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Cam Jansen Mysteries #33
The Spaghetti Max Mystery
How do you find someone you’ve never seen?
Mr. Jansen’s best friend from childhood, “Spaghetti” Max, is coming for a visit. Cam Jansen, her best friend Eric, and Mr. Jansen go to the airport to meet Max. While they’re looking for him, a distressed traveler asks Cam to help him find his missing daughter. But what use is Cam’s photographic memory if she has never seen the missing girl? And where is Spaghetti Max? Can Cam solve this double mystery?
Perfect for beginning chapter book readers, Cam Jansen and the Spaghetti Max Mystery is an exciting addition to the popular Cam Jansen series.
Mr. Jansen’s best friend from childhood, “Spaghetti” Max, is coming for a visit. Cam Jansen, her best friend Eric, and Mr. Jansen go to the airport to meet Max. While they’re looking for him, a distressed traveler asks Cam to help him find his missing daughter. But what use is Cam’s photographic memory if she has never seen the missing girl? And where is Spaghetti Max? Can Cam solve this double mystery?
Perfect for beginning chapter book readers, Cam Jansen and the Spaghetti Max Mystery is an exciting addition to the popular Cam Jansen series.
56 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2013
32 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
David A. Adler
403 books205 followersDavid Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.
Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.
Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.
As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.
(source: Wikipedia)
Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.
Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.
As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.
(source: Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 19, 2021
Fifth-grade sleuth Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton accompany Cam's father to the airport in this thirty-third entry in David A. Adler's beginning chapter-book series devoted to their mystery-solving adventures. Intending to meet Mr. Jansen's childhood friend, coming to town for a visit, the group gets caught up helping a stranger find his missing five-year-old daughter, while also looking for their own guest...
Unlike in so many of its predecessors, solving the central puzzle in Cam Jansen and the Spaghetti Max Mystery - namely: where is little Karen Kramer? - relies less on Cam's photographic memory, than it does on the use of logic, and on Cam's own childhood experiences. Specifically, the idea that one sees what one wants to see, when just learning to read, and that young children will often only bother to decode the first few letters of a word, before thinking they know what it is. This was an engaging entry in the series, and addresses a situation, in the form of a lost child, not seen before in the series. This is probably a parents' worst nightmare, but young readers will undoubtedly find it engrossing. Recommended to fans of the Cam Jansen books, and to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mystery.
Unlike in so many of its predecessors, solving the central puzzle in Cam Jansen and the Spaghetti Max Mystery - namely: where is little Karen Kramer? - relies less on Cam's photographic memory, than it does on the use of logic, and on Cam's own childhood experiences. Specifically, the idea that one sees what one wants to see, when just learning to read, and that young children will often only bother to decode the first few letters of a word, before thinking they know what it is. This was an engaging entry in the series, and addresses a situation, in the form of a lost child, not seen before in the series. This is probably a parents' worst nightmare, but young readers will undoubtedly find it engrossing. Recommended to fans of the Cam Jansen books, and to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mystery.
December 19, 2013
A book my 6 yr old loved, a little old for my preschoolers. A solid reading level 2 book, this reader has a good amount of advanced vocabulary words, but not so long that it discourages a new reader. Used it for his read out loud book, which was perfect. It took about 20 mins for him to read and had just enough new vocabulary words to make it challenging. Also, it was a fun and interesting story he could get into. He liked it so much, he asked for more by this author. Great reading book!
December 12, 2022
Cam Jansen and the Spaghetti Max Mystery authored by David A. Adler and Illustrated by Joy Allen is of the contemporary realistic genre. I gave this book four stars. I liked it. It is for students ages 6 to 9 years of age.
In Summary this book deals with a young adult’s photographic memory. There are instances of folks having photographic memories though this book is fiction.
I n evaluating Cam Jansen I found her photographic memory ability very interesting. The plot takes place at an airport where she is with her older brother and her father. They are at the airport to pick up her father’s lifelong friend. Her father’s lifelong friend goes by the name of Spaghetti. The book goes into more detail about the whys and wherefores of his nickname. However, while waiting for Spaghetti’s plane to land, to get him and his luggage, an incident occurs in the immediate area of Cam’s waiting area. A frantic father was very upset because his six-year-old daughter had suddenly disappeared in the airport. He was frantic. He was asking everyone around the area if they had seen his daughter, Karen, whom he described to a tee! No one could be any help to him. However, Cam, and her family heard what was going on. Cam’s brother quietly asked Cam if she recalled seeing a little girl in a pink polka dot dress, white dress socks and shoes, blond braided hair anywhere in the airport – in the areas where they were talking about. Cam thought and thought about her brother’s request. She could come up with nothing. She did try, however. The little girl had been missing for about 30 minutes already and her dad had reported his missing child to the airport police. Cam, still thinking about all the places she and the family had walked around at at the airport, began to slowly remember descriptions of the missing child, Karen. Cam and her family and Karen’s dad retraced their steps throughout the airport to the appropriate gate they were standing, and low and behold, another descriptive photographic site came to Cam. She remembered walking by the ice cream parlor not far from their sitting area and seeing a little girl in the ice cream parlor all by herself. The description matched the missing child, Karen. The family headed over to the ice cream shop and found Karen. She was standing among a group of people while looking at the different flavors of ice cream. This was a happy occasion needless to say.
I enjoyed the story. It had a happy ending as Karen was found unharmed in part thanks to Cam’s assistance. Photographic memory folks do exist tough they are rare. The language in the book was easily understandable and the illustrations were in black and white
In Summary this book deals with a young adult’s photographic memory. There are instances of folks having photographic memories though this book is fiction.
I n evaluating Cam Jansen I found her photographic memory ability very interesting. The plot takes place at an airport where she is with her older brother and her father. They are at the airport to pick up her father’s lifelong friend. Her father’s lifelong friend goes by the name of Spaghetti. The book goes into more detail about the whys and wherefores of his nickname. However, while waiting for Spaghetti’s plane to land, to get him and his luggage, an incident occurs in the immediate area of Cam’s waiting area. A frantic father was very upset because his six-year-old daughter had suddenly disappeared in the airport. He was frantic. He was asking everyone around the area if they had seen his daughter, Karen, whom he described to a tee! No one could be any help to him. However, Cam, and her family heard what was going on. Cam’s brother quietly asked Cam if she recalled seeing a little girl in a pink polka dot dress, white dress socks and shoes, blond braided hair anywhere in the airport – in the areas where they were talking about. Cam thought and thought about her brother’s request. She could come up with nothing. She did try, however. The little girl had been missing for about 30 minutes already and her dad had reported his missing child to the airport police. Cam, still thinking about all the places she and the family had walked around at at the airport, began to slowly remember descriptions of the missing child, Karen. Cam and her family and Karen’s dad retraced their steps throughout the airport to the appropriate gate they were standing, and low and behold, another descriptive photographic site came to Cam. She remembered walking by the ice cream parlor not far from their sitting area and seeing a little girl in the ice cream parlor all by herself. The description matched the missing child, Karen. The family headed over to the ice cream shop and found Karen. She was standing among a group of people while looking at the different flavors of ice cream. This was a happy occasion needless to say.
I enjoyed the story. It had a happy ending as Karen was found unharmed in part thanks to Cam’s assistance. Photographic memory folks do exist tough they are rare. The language in the book was easily understandable and the illustrations were in black and white
September 30, 2021
Cam, Eric, and Cam's dad were going to the airport to pick up Mr. Jansen's friend who he hadn't seen since 6th grade. His name was Spaghetti Max. It was his nickname because he was super skinny like a strand of spaghetti. He got lost in the airport because he didn't now where to find Mr. Jansen. So they go on a mission to find him. They found him at going to a restaurant in the airport because he was hungry.
December 10, 2020
Extra cute because there were actually two mysteries. One was a little scary. I almost solved the major one and I think a child could, too.
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October 18, 2023me?? reading a children's book that i randomly found?? adding it to goodreads for the sake of my reading goal???? nooo. i would never
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February 2, 2024
Cam and Eric go to the airport with Mr. Jansen to pick up his childhood friend, Spaghetti Max. They agreed to meet at the snack places. When Cam, Eric, and Mr. Jansen get to there, they see a man calling for his daughter. He tells them that she is five years-old, and she is wearing an avocado green shirt, strawberry red ribbons in her hair, and a banana yellow belt around her waist. Her name is Karen Kramer. Mr. Kramer told her to wait for him outside the men’s restroom, but when he came out she was gone. Cam runs through her mental pictures of all the little girls she saw in the airport, but she didn’t see Karen. Did Karen go into the toy store nearby? No. Did she go to the gate without her father? No. While they are looking for Karen, they find Max. Then, Cam remembers what Mr. Kramer told them about Karen thinking the “Men” on the bathroom door said “Menu.” And, Karen had been taught to ask a police officer for help. When she finds out that Max was waiting at Polly’s Ice Cream Shop, she puts the pieces together and knows where to find Karen.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
February 8, 2015
We've read all of the Cam Jansen Mysteries by David A. Adler. Cam and Eric are like old friends for us; we've been reading these books since 2009. We like the stories and our girls enjoyed answering the memory game questions at the end.
The mystery wasn't too hard to solve and I liked that Cam and Eric didn't put themselves in a dangerous situation, especially compared to some of the older tales.
I thought it was humorous how literally the young girl followed her Dad's parental guidance not to talk with strangers. We enjoyed reading this story together, although our girls have pretty much grown out of these books.
The mystery wasn't too hard to solve and I liked that Cam and Eric didn't put themselves in a dangerous situation, especially compared to some of the older tales.
I thought it was humorous how literally the young girl followed her Dad's parental guidance not to talk with strangers. We enjoyed reading this story together, although our girls have pretty much grown out of these books.
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June 29, 20158 chapters, 6ish pages per chapter.
Chapter One: Problem: Missing daughter
Chapter Two: Start to look
Chapter Three: Think she got lost in bathroom
Chapter Four: Put out a speaker announcement to call her
Chapter Five: Still looking
Chapter Six: Still looking. Realize that the announcement is hard to hear.
Chapter Seven: Realize that girl might have read Ice Cream and thought it was the polICE station.
Chapter Eight: Solution
Chapter One: Problem: Missing daughter
Chapter Two: Start to look
Chapter Three: Think she got lost in bathroom
Chapter Four: Put out a speaker announcement to call her
Chapter Five: Still looking
Chapter Six: Still looking. Realize that the announcement is hard to hear.
Chapter Seven: Realize that girl might have read Ice Cream and thought it was the polICE station.
Chapter Eight: Solution
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2014
this book has nothing to do with the title. the book is about a daughter getting lost and the father tries to find her. cam jansen finds her at polly's ice cream and brings her to her father. they go off to seattle.
December 1, 2015
it was surprizingthe surprizing part was when a guy just ran up to them and said i don`t know where my daghter is at and of course they solved it
June 7, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
July 19, 2014
I liked the book because it did not make sense spaghetti max was not thin!
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August 1, 2018Note: Dad read this to N. Not Mom.
Since Goodreads has no personal notes option on iOS app, I must put my notes here. Author annoyed?
Please forward to Goodreads that they should allow their users to add personal notes on the iOS app. They don’t listen to the suggestions from their users. Cheers.
Since Goodreads has no personal notes option on iOS app, I must put my notes here. Author annoyed?
Please forward to Goodreads that they should allow their users to add personal notes on the iOS app. They don’t listen to the suggestions from their users. Cheers.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews