Book talk: The Mystery of Meerkat Hill: A Precious Ramotswe Mystery for Young Readers

What would you do if you were lying in bed at night and a tiny meerkat came up to your face and sniffed your cheek? [Show p. 87].

Kosi checks out Precious

No, don't scream. What is a meerkat? They're small mammals in the mongoose family, and they live in the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in southern Africa. Meerkats are adorable.

So I already told you part of the end of The Mystery of Meerkat Hill, but it wasn't a spoiler. The hero of this story - the girl whose cheek was sniffed - is Precious Ramotswe. She's kind and smart and lives in Botswana. Precious has a great eye for detail. Detectives are all about the details.

One day she goes to her new friends' house. She can tell from their tiny, modest home that they're poor, but she doesn't say anything to make them feel bad. She's just not like that. They tell her one good thing  and one bad thing. First the good: they have a tame meerkat named Kosi, which means "chief." The bad: they have one family cow, and she is missing. When you're poor and you don't own much at all, it's really painful to lose your cow. It's like losing all your money.

Remember how I told you that Precious has a great eye for detail? There's a specific detail she's looking for, and it involves a meerkat and a cow.

The Mystery of Meerkat Hill: A Precious Ramotswe Mystery for Young Readers by Alexander McCall Smith. 90 pages. 2012: Anchor Books. Booktalk to intermediate grades.

Book talk: Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis

Timmy Failure runs his own detective agency, is flunking out of school, has a polar bear named Total, and rides his mom's Segway, which he's not ever, ever supposed to do. He's pretty good at keeping his mother in the dark, but the Segway - his Failuremobile - has been stolen, which means there will be pain and suffering on Timmy's part. A guy's gotta have wheels.

Come to think of it, there are two other females associated with pain and suffering: the first is Molly Moskins. She's in his class, and she smells like a tangerine. She's got a crush on Timmy, and he wants nothing to do with her. 

But she's nothing compared to the evil one. The evil one is so evil that Timmy doesn't even want you to see her picture. He blocks out her head with a black square. I'm not even going to say her real name. You can call her the evil one, or Weevil Bun. Take your pick. She runs her own detective agency, and she's so good at school that she actually tutors other kids. But you know what? Timmy has her detective log. The Holy Grail. Ahhh....revenge....

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis. 294 p. 2013: Candlewick. Booktalk to grades 3-7.

Book talk: The Trouble with Chickens (Virginia Readers' Choice, 2012-2013)

J. J. Tully, 'retired' rescue dog

Search and rescue dogs are really cool and really smart. They use their keen sense of smell, orders from humans, and animal intuition to find missing people. It’s a noble job. J. J. Tully is a rescue dog. He has found many missing people by sniffing them out of rubble, snow, darkness, and danger. But now he’s got a mother chicken harassing him. Wait…a mother chicken? Why would a mother chicken harass a rescue dog? Oh, right…missing chicks. So, how hard can it be to find a bunch of missing chicks? Hold on, let me ask J. J. Tully. [Pause.] Okay, much harder than finding humans. Humans stink. You can smell them miles away. 

A chick trail is much harder, especially when it’s pouring rain, you’ve got a mom chicken and two other chicks right behind you and a cryptic ransom note. This was the weirdest ransom note I have ever read. I have to read it to you. It says, “I have your peeps. It behooves you to rendezvous. Twilight. Your place.” What?!?! Who talks likes this? This is going to be one crazy, weird mystery.

The Trouble with Chickens: A J. J. Tully Mystery by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Kevin Cornell. 119 pages. Balzer + Bray, 2011. Booktalk to intermediate grades. Virginia Readers’ Choice, 2012-2013.

The Trouble with Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery