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66th out of 86 books
—
213 voters
The London Eye Mystery
by
Siobhan Dowd
Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim board the London Eye. But after half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off–except Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air? Ted and his older sister, Kat, become sleuthing partners, since the police are having no luck. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences...more
Hardcover, 323 pages
Published
February 12th 2008
by David Fickling Books
(first published June 7th 2007)
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This is just an indescribably fabulous novel. Ted has a different brain from other people - he says he runs on a different operating system. When a cousin comes to visit and then disappears, it's up to Ted and his sister Kat to solve the mystery since none of the adults will listen to their clues. Using the art of deduction and his unusal way of looking at the world, Ted discovers clues to the whereabouts of his cousin that no one else observed.
What I love about this novel is the very frank way...more
What I love about this novel is the very frank way...more
Is it just me, or does this read like a slightly warmed-over *Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime*. The disappearance of a kid from a closed capsule on the London Eye is an intriguing mystery, but the only possible solutions pretty quickly close down to two, and the solving of the mystery seemed slightly anticlimactic. The novel also violates a principle that would have adult mystery fans howling - the key clue to the mystery is not available to the reader.
Most crucially, though, is th...more
Most crucially, though, is th...more
4 likes · like · see review
I am not a big fan of books that try to get into the minds of people who don't think in the "normal" way (whatever that is) because I feel that the author might not get it right and give a false representation of that unusual way of thinking, or else give others the sense that their depiction is the way it is for everyone who thinks differently in that manner (I don't think I am being very articulate). And this book makes me uncomfortable along those lines. Also, the cataloger places it under th...more
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Good young adult and middle grade mysteries are sometimes hard to come by. THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY by Siobhan Dowd is one you won't want to miss.
It all starts when Ted's cousin, Salim, comes to visit. Salim and his mother are about to move to New York City and have planned a family visit in London before their departure. Of course, what is a visit to London without a ride on the London Eye? That's when the trouble begins.
Ted and hi...more
Good young adult and middle grade mysteries are sometimes hard to come by. THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY by Siobhan Dowd is one you won't want to miss.
It all starts when Ted's cousin, Salim, comes to visit. Salim and his mother are about to move to New York City and have planned a family visit in London before their departure. Of course, what is a visit to London without a ride on the London Eye? That's when the trouble begins.
Ted and hi...more
A reasonably good mystery for younger readers, but I found the characterisation of the Asperger's protagonist/narrator inconsistent and not always believable.
12/13/12
I am currently reading the London eye mystery by Siobhan Dowd. This book is about Ted and Kat two siblings and their cousin Salim. These three kids are on there way to a theme park with a BIG Ferris wheel called the London eye. Ted and Kat are to scared to get on, but Salim gets right on. Thirty minutes pass and the pod that he got in thirty minutes ago reaches the ground, but where's Salim? Well you will just have to read the book to find out! I can REALLY relate to Ted and Kat because...more
I am currently reading the London eye mystery by Siobhan Dowd. This book is about Ted and Kat two siblings and their cousin Salim. These three kids are on there way to a theme park with a BIG Ferris wheel called the London eye. Ted and Kat are to scared to get on, but Salim gets right on. Thirty minutes pass and the pod that he got in thirty minutes ago reaches the ground, but where's Salim? Well you will just have to read the book to find out! I can REALLY relate to Ted and Kat because...more
What goes up must come down – unless you’re Ted Sparks’ cousin Salim.
Aunt Gloria and her teenage son Salim are preparing to move from Manchester, England to New York City. Before they leave for the United States, Gloria wants to visit her sister and her family in London. Salim has never been to London so his cousins Ted and Katrina are eager to show him the sights.
They decide to visit one of Ted’s favorite places, the London Eye. The London Eye, also called the Millennium Wheel, is the tallest f...more
Aunt Gloria and her teenage son Salim are preparing to move from Manchester, England to New York City. Before they leave for the United States, Gloria wants to visit her sister and her family in London. Salim has never been to London so his cousins Ted and Katrina are eager to show him the sights.
They decide to visit one of Ted’s favorite places, the London Eye. The London Eye, also called the Millennium Wheel, is the tallest f...more
Agreeing with those who said it's a bit reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, although for a younger audience. It is a fast paced story, and I think the audience will enjoy solving the mystery with the kids, although I'm not sure they have the clues to do so as much as they can follow along?
My peeve with the book is in its shape, and this is my new peeve. This is not a 400 page book, but the trim size is so small it makes it seem long. Its not pleasurable (to me) to...more
My peeve with the book is in its shape, and this is my new peeve. This is not a 400 page book, but the trim size is so small it makes it seem long. Its not pleasurable (to me) to...more
I really loved The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. The story is narrated by Ted, a pre-teen boy with Asperger's Syndrome. Or as Ted himself puts it, he has a brain "that runs on a different operating system." It all starts when Ted's Aunt Gloria and her son Salim come to visit. They haven't seen these relations in years and right after their visit Salim and Aunt Gloria are going to move to New York City. On a day of sight seeing in London Ted and Kat (his older sister who is usually mean to...more
This charming book about a "special" boy who solves the mystery of his missing cousin before the police do is perfect for the tween or young teen looking for something a little out of the ordinary, yet a mystery, yet easy to read and relatively fast-paced. It takes place in London and revolves around the Eye, which is not a ferris wheel, as the narrator explains.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, its narrative style, it's simplicity and its neatness. Highly recommended for kids of all ages.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, its narrative style, it's simplicity and its neatness. Highly recommended for kids of all ages.
From the synopsis, I thought it was going to be some great quirky kids book, something closer to Erich Kastner's Emil and The Detectives because the plot gave that kind of sound but then I arrived in moments where Salim's divorced parents Gloria and Rashid locking lips right when Salim was lost? lol, it wasn't just right to me. It slowly loses its sincerity and I started to regret myself for picking The London Eye Mystery..
Porn moment isn't the main problem here. I love the idea of lost people a...more
Porn moment isn't the main problem here. I love the idea of lost people a...more
This novel is another of the twenty books in the middle school Battle of the Books that I judged last weekend. My friend, who coached her granddaughter’s team, said that this novel had an autistic protagonist, though that term is never used in the novel.
Ted and his older sister take their cousin Salim to the London Eye, the huge ferris wheel in downtown London. They see him get on, but he never gets off the pod. Ted, like the characters in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and C...more
Ted and his older sister take their cousin Salim to the London Eye, the huge ferris wheel in downtown London. They see him get on, but he never gets off the pod. Ted, like the characters in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and C...more
This is a fabulous story that is much more than just a mystery. Siblings Ted and Kat watch their cousin board the world's largest observational wheel in London but after everyone disembarks the capsule, their cousin is nowhere to be found. Ted, a young teen with Asperger's and Kat, his temperamental older sister, take it upon themselves to discover the whereabouts of their missing cousin.
Dowd does a phenomenal job at getting into Ted's head and bringing his reality to life. Not only does he dep...more
Dowd does a phenomenal job at getting into Ted's head and bringing his reality to life. Not only does he dep...more
Feb 21, 2013
Ccl Children's
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobook,
children-s-fiction
This was an engaging mystery that kept me sitting in the car in my driveway toward the end--I didn't want to wait until the next time I was in the car to find out what happened! The main narrator, Ted, has a syndrome (never named, but the symptoms sounded similar to Asperger's), that makes his brain work a little differently. He lives in London with his parents and his older sister Kat, who can find Ted to be somewhat exasperating (in the grand tradition of older sisters everywhere.) When Aunt G...more
The London Eye Mystery defies the genre of mystery in its unlikely perspective: our protagonist Ted has (what we assume from his symptoms is) Asperger’s syndrome. This gives the audience a taste of not only how his syndrome affects how people view him, but also how he views the rest of the world, taking in only the literal and straightforward. This plays an incredibly significant role throughout the novel because throughout it’s Ted’s off-kilter thinking pattern that makes him capable of viewin...more
Read a second time because somehow, despite a fairly decent review, I just could not remember having read it. Reviewing a separate time because, even as I was re-reading it, it felt almost like a brand-new read. So, I'm just wondering - is it my fault or the book's? Is it an unmemorable book, or is it just not suited to my mind?
So, this time I liked it better. I got more out of it. I recognized the Aspergian behaviors and feel even more confident that they're authentic. However, I still don't fe...more
So, this time I liked it better. I got more out of it. I recognized the Aspergian behaviors and feel even more confident that they're authentic. However, I still don't fe...more
The only disappointment every time I read Siobhan Dowd's books is that I know it brings me one book closer to not being able to read anything more. What a talent this late author had. I've had The London Eye Mystery for at least a year or more but just picked it up to read last night. Big mistake. I did not want to put it down. And even though the skies were bright blue today and the gardens called, this mystery's call was louder. The story is told by a boy, Ted, who we learn right away is diffe...more
When Ted and Kat's cousin Salim mysteriously disappears while riding the London Eye they team up to find him. Ted and Kat never got along in the past because Ted has Asperger's Syndrome and is difficult to relate to; however, they discover that a combination of his rational thinking skills and her intuitive action makes them an ideal team. It may be because I've OD'd myself on Autism books this April, but I wasn't overly impressed by this story. I don't regret reading it--it was a cute story, an...more
Bother, I had a whole thing written out, and then closed the window by mistake. ANYWAY ...
This is a middle reader, the mystery of the title is the disappearance of a young boy in London. The book presented from the point of view of the boy's cousin, who has Asperger's.
I've read a few books lately with protagonists somewhere on the Asperger's/autism spectrum, and I especially enjoyed this one because I felt like it was a consistent and believable way to show a main character who has an outlook th...more
This is a middle reader, the mystery of the title is the disappearance of a young boy in London. The book presented from the point of view of the boy's cousin, who has Asperger's.
I've read a few books lately with protagonists somewhere on the Asperger's/autism spectrum, and I especially enjoyed this one because I felt like it was a consistent and believable way to show a main character who has an outlook th...more
Mar 06, 2012
IndyPL Kids Book Blog
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery
Good detectives can manage a lot of information coming into their brain. They choose which pieces of information to concentrate on. In, The London Eye,Ted doesn’t know it, but he is naturally wired with good detective skills. He is able to easily choose one type of information to concentrate on which helps him use his logic skills to solve the mystery.
Ted and Kat’s cousin Salim comes to their home in London for a visit and they take him to the popular tourist attraction the London Eye, an enormo...more
Ted and Kat’s cousin Salim comes to their home in London for a visit and they take him to the popular tourist attraction the London Eye, an enormo...more
Jan 30, 2012
Kribu
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
childrens
The London Eye Mystery is a decent little mystery for kids - a boy goes missing between boarding the London Eye and getting off - but that's not really what sets this book apart from others. It's the narrator, a 12-year-old boy Ted, who does that.
I found the beginning a little slow, and to be honest, at first I found Ted irritating. Slow. I wondered how old he was, to not understand some very basic things such as idiomatic expressions, figures of speech, and so on. It only occurred to me a chapt...more
I found the beginning a little slow, and to be honest, at first I found Ted irritating. Slow. I wondered how old he was, to not understand some very basic things such as idiomatic expressions, figures of speech, and so on. It only occurred to me a chapt...more
I wouldn't say that this was a bad read, but it was a little boring, as far as mysteries go. But I will get to that later. I was expecting Ted to be annoying, but he is a surprisingly likable character. Kat is the annoying one, and I wished several times that she would disappear and never return.
That said - on to the mystery. It was not as involved as I was hoping. The reader does not get the pleasure of solving the case with the characters (though I figured out about half of the answer fairly q...more
That said - on to the mystery. It was not as involved as I was hoping. The reader does not get the pleasure of solving the case with the characters (though I figured out about half of the answer fairly q...more
This cleverly written thriller chronicles a brother and sister's race against time to track down their younger cousin, who goes missing after accepting a ticket for a ride on the London Eye from a mysterious stranger. Kat and Ted keep their eyes glued to Salim's capsule as he climbs into it, the doors seal shut and it spins across London's skyline. When the capsule opens, however, Salim is nowhere to be seen.
The book is carefully paced and structured with unpredictable twists and turns, resulti...more
The book is carefully paced and structured with unpredictable twists and turns, resulti...more
Jul 28, 2011
Laura Brennan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
boys or girls grades 5-7 who are a little more mature readers.
*Starred Review* The facts seem simple enough. While their mothers have coffee, Ted and his older sister, Kat, and their cousin, Salim, wait in a queue to ride the London Eye, an observation wheel that allows those locked in the glass-and-steel capsules to see 25 miles in every direction. A stranger from the front of the line offers one free ticket, and since Salim is the visitor, stopping in London before moving with his mum to New York, he takes it. Ted and Kat see him enter the capsule and fo...more
May 16, 2011
Kornela
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-literature
A really fun mystery for children. Ted Spark's brain runs on a different operating system than other people's; he sees things that others miss. This comes in handy when Ted and his older sister Kat are plunged into a strange mystery. While waiting in line to buy tickets for the London Eye, a stranger comes up and offers his ticket to Ted, Kat, and their cousin Salim, who is visiting the Sparks. To avoid the long line, the Sparks let Salim have the ticket, because he's a visitor to London and has...more
I debated between three or four stars and decided to go with four. This is a mystery that is narrated by a high-functioning autistic 11 year old boy named Ted. He lives in London with his older sister, Kat, his mom and his dad. His aunt and cousin, Salim, come to stay with them for a few days before they move to New York, and they decide to ride the London Eye--a type of huge Ferris wheel that takes about a half hour for a full rotation. The moms go get coffee while the kids stand in the long qu...more
Jan 26, 2011
Shazzer
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
middle-grade,
mystery
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Dowd, Siobhan. The London Eye Mystery ( 2007)
Ted Sparks, his older sister, Kat, and their mom and dad live in London. They seem like the typical working class family, all except for Ted, who has a “funny brain.” He suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and has problems talking and relating to people. He counts his cereal in the morning, is obsessed by weather patterns, and listens to the shipping channel news as a bedtime ritual. One day a letter comes from Aunt Gloria stating that she is moving to A...more
Ted Sparks, his older sister, Kat, and their mom and dad live in London. They seem like the typical working class family, all except for Ted, who has a “funny brain.” He suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and has problems talking and relating to people. He counts his cereal in the morning, is obsessed by weather patterns, and listens to the shipping channel news as a bedtime ritual. One day a letter comes from Aunt Gloria stating that she is moving to A...more
As a person who is "wired" differently I found "The London Eye Mystery" very inteseting and entertaining. This book was a great read to introducing my grandchildren to how people are different each in their own way. It proves that it is indeed wise to listen to children as what they have to say and should not be dismissed too easily.
Kat and Ted take their cousin Salim to ride the London Eye; a giant ferris wheel with pods that carry groups of visitors. The view of London from the top of The Lond...more
Kat and Ted take their cousin Salim to ride the London Eye; a giant ferris wheel with pods that carry groups of visitors. The view of London from the top of The Lond...more
Ted’s Aunt Gloria and cousin Salim are stopping in London to visit on their way to New York to live. While there, Ted, his sister Kate, and Salim set out to go on the London Eye. But due to a mysterious set of circumstances, only Salim ends up going–and when the Eye comes down, he’s not there.
His disappearance threatens to rip the family apart. In the end, it’s up to Ted and Kate to set aside their differences and solve the mystery.
This was a great book. It didn’t sugar-coat Kate and Ted’s relat...more
His disappearance threatens to rip the family apart. In the end, it’s up to Ted and Kate to set aside their differences and solve the mystery.
This was a great book. It didn’t sugar-coat Kate and Ted’s relat...more
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Siobhan Dowd was born to Irish parents and brought up in London. She spent much of her youth visiting the family cottage in Aglish, County Waterford and later the family home in Wicklow Town.
She attended a Catholic grammar school in south London and then gained a degree in Classics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. After a short stint in publishing, she joined the writer's organization PEN...more
More about Siobhan Dowd...
She attended a Catholic grammar school in south London and then gained a degree in Classics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. After a short stint in publishing, she joined the writer's organization PEN...more
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“Knowledge can be like the skin on the surface of the water in a pond, or it can go all the way down to the mud. It can be the tiny tip of the iceberg or the whole hundred percent.”
—
10 people liked it
“Salim,' She said, as if he were in the room. 'I'll have your guts for garters.' I has never heard this before and wondered what garters were. Kat told me later that they are what women used to wear around their thighs to keep their stockings up and they were elasticated. I do not think guts would be a tidy way of doing this.”
—
2 people liked it
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updated Sep 30, 2008 02:27am