Marty Frye, Private Eye: The Case of the Busted Video Games & Other Mysteries

Marty Frye, Private Eye #3

by Janet Tashjian, Laurie Keller (Illustrations)

Book 3 in the Marty Frye young chapter book mystery series by bestselling author-illustrator team Janet Tashjian and Laurie Keller!

In this new collection of mysteries, everyone’s favorite poet detective is back in action. When a prankster tangles all the school jump ropes into knots and gym is canceled, Marty pins down the culprit. When five machines are mysteriously found broken at the arcade, Marty jumps on the case. And when Mom’s phone goes missing after a trip to the mall, Marty races against the clock to track it down before dinner. But can he still manage to make up rhymes while he solves new crimes?

Broken into three short stories with a generous amount of art on each page, this is an ideal stepping stone to longer chapter books. Young readers will be off in search of a rhyme in no time.

Christy Ottaviano Books

Genres: Mystery

96 pages, Hardcover

Published March 12, 2019

About the author

Janet Tashjian is a middle-grade and young adult novelist who’s been writing books for children for fifteen years. Her first novel Tru Confessions was made into a critically acclaimed Disney TV movie starring Clara Bryant and Shia LaBeouf. The Gospel According to Larry is a cult favorite and Fault Line is taught in many middle and high schools. Her novels My Life As a Book, My Life As a Stuntboy, and My Life As a Cartoonist are all illustrated by her teenage son, Jake. Their collaboration continues with Einstein the Class Hamster coming in August.

Janet lives with her family in Los Angeles, enjoying her respite from the long Boston winters. When she isn’t writing, she’s rewriting.

Janet has been doing school visits for fifteen years; you can email her at spatulaproductions@mac.com for details.

We invite you to follow her on Twitter @JanetTashjian and like her books on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Lif...
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Plus, check out her YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/janettash...

Reviews

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marty Frye, a 7-year-old detective, uses rhymes while fighting crimes. The three clever, up-to-date story lines, take place at school, at home, and at a video arcade. All of the "culprits" committed the crimes accidentally or at least, without knowing they were causing a problem. The crimes involve tying jump ropes into knots, gumming up video game slots, and a missing cell phone. 88 pages of large, easy-to-read print with fun black and white illustrations make this series an excellent transition from picture to chapter book. The rhymes are in black speech bubbles with white letters so they stand out. The quick pace, classroom drama, and rhyming text add to the appeal of the series. Highly recommended for kindergarten through third grade.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this third installment in the young private eye series, Marty Frye has three mysteries to solve. Relying on his wits, keen observation skills and his talent as a rhymer, Marty figures out who left the school jump ropes in such a tangle, points the finger of blame at the saboteur of some video games at the arcade, and locates his mother's cell phone. It's all in a day's work for this clever kid. Young readers, especially those in second, third, and fourth grade, will enjoy this outing with easy-to-read text and large illustrations to support the action being described here.

[Hannah Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 5yo and 7yo love this series. These mysteries are light-hearted mysteries that they could come across in their day-to-day lives (no gimmicks). They love the rhymes, and after we read a Marty Frye story, they rhyme to me for the next hour or so. I enjoy reading it to my kids as well (and I always appreciate when a book is enjoyable for a read aloud- I've suffered through a few duds that my kids really loved).

5 stars from both me and my kids

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute, although very basic, mystery series. It could be used as a mentor text for teachers to walk their younger students through the elements of solving a mystery. The poet detective aspect is fun and endearing.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three fun mysteries for the beginning readers in your life. Fun illustration and lots of humor will keep them reading.

[Heidi Kuipers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these books, hope they're will be more!