The Cayuga Island Kids series features a diverse group of big-hearted friends who work together to solve mysteries, have adventures, and organize community projects. They are fact detectives who think, brainstorm, research, and collaborate to uncover answers and puzzle out solutions. Above all, they are kind, helpful, smart, and resourceful kids who have lots of fun together.
These chapter books are perfect for 7- to 10-year-olds in 1st through 4th grade.
“Any book that begins with a map of an island is my kind of story. Enliven that setting with a diverse group of characters who are consistently kind—and bursting with curiosity—and you’ve got all the elements of a series that is alive with adventure, friendship, and mystery.”
~ James Preller, author of the Jigsaw Jones mystery series
Book 1: The Mystery of the Barking Branches and the Sunken Ship
This entertaining mystery-history adventure is based on real events surrounding one of the biggest puzzles of the Great Lakes! The Cayuga Island Kids set off on a hunt for a certain kind of tree and instead unearth a cannonball thought to be from a treasure ship built right on their island that sank in 1679 and was never recovered. As they hunt for clues and follow leads, they discover that the island they live on is home to a whole lot of history. And, it turns out, a whole lot of mystery, too. We all have history in our own backyards, just waiting to be discovered by inquisitive, adventurous, and fun-loving fact detectives!
Book 2: The Adventure of the Big Fish By the Small Creek
Moving from knowing something has to be done to getting it done takes determination, teamwork, and sometimes, looking in a new direction. In this award-winning second book in the series, the Cayuga Island Kids rescue a mallard caught in the plastic rings from six-pack of cans. Moments later, a girl on a bike carelessly tosses a plastic bottle in the creek. That’s when they decide it’s time for action. How the Cayuga Island Kids go from fishing a plastic bottle out of the creek to bringing the community together to build a recycling bin big enough to hold plenty of plastic makes for a lively adventure. Young readers will be entertained as they come to realize the importance of brainstorming ideas, teamwork, the value of community effort, recycling, and the promise of new friendships. Best of all, readers will cheer on the Cayuga Island Kids as they come to realize that, although we are each just one person, together we can make a BIG difference.
Book 3: The Case of the Messy Message and the Missing Facts
It’s fall as Book 3 of the Cayuga Island Kids chapter book series opens. Julian explores food science as he experiments with recipes for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Being a cookie sampler takes Mac’s mind off his troubles with fractions. Yoko practices for the school play tryouts, and Maya helps Ms. Choi with the Make-and-Take-Club. Lacey, of course, is searching for the next mystery to solve. And then two of Ms. Choi’s glitter pens go missing. The clues and evidence point to a suspect, but are the Cayuga Island Kids jumping to conclusions? When a classmate jumps to conclusions and shares false information about Julian’s cookies, the kids join forces to set the facts straight. And while researching explorers for a school project, the kids uncover misinformation that blurs the truth, and makes the reasons for being a fact detective crystal clear. Sorting through clues and evidence—just like research—means making sure you have all the facts, and not just a fraction of the truth. Young readers will cheer for the Cayuga Island Kids as they embark on this adventure involving misinformation, faulty assumptions, flour bugs, glitter pens, and chocolate chip cookies.
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Tamishly –
This story just stole my heart. I absolutely adore Elinor. She’s one of my most memorable characters ever.
I really want to get to the other book by the author. I want to get to know Elinor better.
The story talks about family, friends and most importantly about family ties. I would note that some readers might find the beginning of the story a little difficult to read as it deals with grief and loss of someone near and dear.
I find the writing so wholesome and soothing. More importantly, whenever I needed comfort for the characters and for myself reading the story, the author knew exactly what to do. I really appreciate this.
One more highlight of the writing would be that it keeps up with today’s social media use and lingo.
The chapters are short and the book is short too. But the content is so beautiful. I just appreciate both.
I really hope we have friends and family who are like these characters. Such a heartwarming story.
Grab a copy of this book. It feels like a warm bear hug.
Leigh –
I was excited to dive into the sequel to Elinormal and I enjoyed this. I think it does a nice job dealing with challenging parental relationships and the idea that parents have histories that their children have a hard time imagining. This is a quick, engaging read that students will enjoy.
Lauren Miron –
Middle Grades books are hard to nail down based on the complex life of teenagers today, but, Kate McCarroll Moore nailed this one!
Elinor Malcom is primed and ready for the first day of 7th grade. She’s got her friends on speed dial and her perfect outfit ready, until one phone call changes everything. Her grandmother has passed, and the family has to fly out to take care of the funeral. Staying with her parents as they manage her estate leads Elinor to miss the first week of school, which creates a whole new start for seventh grade.
When she finally returns, she’s known as the new girl, which is far from the truth. Her diverse group of friends welcome her back with open arms as she settles back in to life as she knows it. Figuring out her relationship with her mom, meeting the new boy at school, and really understanding who her grandmother was take up most of Elinor’s time. Why can’t she and her mom be like everyone else? Who is this boy, and does he feel the same way about her she feels abut him? What did her grandmother do, and why is her family so secretive about her?
Filled with the complex truths of middle school, this is a window into the world of a preteen. I’m looking forward to adding this one to my classroom bookshelf!