The Story Pirates Present: Digging Up Danger

The Story Pirates Present

by Story Pirates, Jacqueline West, Hatem Aly (Illustrator)

Ghosts? A mysterious plant? Something even more sinister? This spooky mystery (inspired by a real kid's idea) doubles as a creative writing guide for young writers!

Eliza loves hunting ghosts -- too bad she's spending the summer helping her scientist mother study weird plants instead. But when a mysterious plant goes missing, things go from strange to downright spooky. Eliza is convinced something--or someone--is haunting the plant shop. Is she digging into dangerous ground?
Like Stuck in the Stone Age, the first in the Story Pirates Present series, this spine-tingling mystery doubles as an introduction to the basics of creative writing. With the help of Story Pirate Captain Vincent Rolo and the Mystery Creation Zone, kids can use this kid-generated story as inspiration to create their OWN great mysteries!

Genres: Mystery, Middle Grade, Humor, Fiction, Paranormal, Fantasy, Childrens

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 19, 2019

Reviews

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be on every shelf in a library and in every elementary school classroom. This book was interactive, fun and interesting through and through. Students and children will not even know that they are learning because they will be so focused on the activities throughout the story plus find out what happens to Eliza and find out if there are really ghosts or has something gone wrong with her mother's crazy plants.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. We will definitely consider this title in our JFiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the neat things about this series is how it combined a creative writing tutorial with Phoebe's mystery story idea. This is done by encouraging the reader to flip forward and backward through the pages of the book as your reading it. For example, the reader might be reading the initial pages of the story and come to a spooky moment, then they're prompted to flip to the back of the book where they learn about how the author set up this scene. There are also pieces on crafting your settings, what's needed for an exciting mystery, how stories have a beginning, middle, and end, creating a culprit, even what kind of clues a reader might need. It's really quite interactive with the flipping of pages and there are even worksheets that ask the reader questions about what things you would find in your setting, who's the one doing the sleuthing? Even tips on how to outline who the suspects are. There's a whole Mystery Creation Zone with titles like "idea storms" and "detective notebook pages" that ties things back to Phoebe's mystery story idea while encouraging and providing the tools for kids to develop their own mysteries.

Now I read this as an ebook, so flipping back and forth was pretty easy for me. Kids might find this a bit more challenging with the physical copy. I choose to read the whole story and then went back through reading the chapter and the how-to parts at the back of the book. I just love this idea as a classroom teaching tool in creative writing or for kids who are interested in becoming an author. Plus Digging up Danger was a very humorous story and a fun mystery to solve that I'm sure children would enjoy reading.

[Dena McMurdie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids that like spooky stories will enjoy this book. It's about a girl who is helping her scientist mother with some weird plants for the summer. When one of the plants go missing, things turn from weird to creepy.

The story itself is okay. It's a quick, fun story to read and kids will enjoy it. But the thing that really makes this book shine is the second half. While the first half of this book is the actual story, the second half is a step-by-step guide to writing your own mystery novels. It teaches kids how to plot their story and plan clues and add atmosphere.

I could see this being a big help in the classroom, but also something that young aspiring authors would like. Kids that like writing and want to take their storytelling abilities to the next level will find great advice in this book.

Content: Some spooky scenes.

Source: The publisher sent me a copy of this book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is hard to find well written, fun mysteries for fourth grade readers. This was pitched perfectly. The additional element of teaching kids how to write a mystery was done in such a way that one could choose to follow that thread or not.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy moly is this book a ton of fun. The story is just the right mix of spooky, tense, and hilarious. Throw in the writing guide in the back and you've got a lovely book for kids and the kid-at-heart.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Digging Up Danger by Jacqueline West, illustrated by Hatem Aly, 275 pages. A Yearling Book (Penguin Random House), 2019. $8.
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG.

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

This is a story built around the idea of a real kid who sent in her idea into the Story Pirates. During the story, the author directs you to the back of the book where it guides the reader through what the author is doing and how the reader can write their own mystery story. The story itself is about Eliza and her mom who move to a giant house to catalogue unique plants and have to solve a mystery around the peculiar effects of a stolen plant.

I enjoyed both reading the story and learning how to write my own mystery story. I have no doubt this will both spark interest for students to try out mystery writing as well as improve the writing of regular student authors.

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2020...

[Suzanne Dix · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and zany mystery, Digging Up Danger is another novel by The Story Pirates, a collective of authors and actors who encourage kids to share with them their wild and interesting storylines. The adults then turn the ideas into novels, music, performances and a podcast. In this adventure, twelve year old Eliza and her botanist mother travel to New York for a summer job of identifying many rare and unusual plants. Eliza is less than thrilled to leave home and now live on the fourth floor of Carrolls’ Gardens. The Carrolls are also hosting their 13 year old nephew Tommy. Eliza is supremely bored by plants and wants nothing more than to creep around this old building investigating for ghosts. As a paranormal researcher, she definitely can tell that something unusual is going on at the gardens. First there are the voices, then all of the Carrolls suddenly have yellow eyes and finally there is the black shadow. With the help of her mother, Eliza slowly begins to piece together this strange turn of events and much to her chagrin it is not ghosts at work but rather a powerful and rare plant that is turning humans into dogs. The chapters often end with a cartoon illustration of Rolo Vincent (the captain of the story pirates) and Phoebe (the kid writer of Digging Up Danger). The two cartoon characters connect the ongoing plot with suggestions at the back of the book, in the Mystery Creation Zone, of how to become a mystery writer, how to introduce clues, how to build suspense, etc. While the majority of readers will only read the mystery in the front half of the book, those who are interested in becoming an author or a better writer will enjoy the suggestions and encouragement of the back half. This is a unique series that will interest readers and writers alike.

Grades 4-6.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book along with another, Stuck in the Stone Age, not only contains a mystery story but it shows students how to write a mystery. The first part of the book is the mystery story, in this case about a girl and her mother who use their summer vacation to live at a plant store. The mother is a botanist who is interested in the challenge of identifying some unknown plants and the daughter is a "ghost buster" who wants to find evidence of ghost involvement. Needless to say, both are satisfied. The story is based on an idea by a child who won the Story Pirates contest and it's easy to see that it's the idea of a child. I was not overly interested in the story, although there was some excellent author craft done using figurative language, but the idea that a student could read the story and use it as a template/mentor text for writing their own story was a pretty great idea. The last third of the book has different ideas, organizers, and ways for a young writer to practice and create their own story. I think this could be a great book to have/suggest to students who would like to go to the next step with their writing. Also, it would be great to use as a mentor text to read sections and then the guide to show how ideas are exemplified. I believe there is a podcast, The Story Pirates, that got the whole idea going. That could be something else to introduce to students during stations or for their own listening pleasure of podcasts.

[MrsK Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Digging up danger is a way of life for Phoebe. She is absolutely and positively a sleuth of spirits. She knows the movements of ghosts. She recognizes when sounds are not what they should be. She is always on the "lookout" for suspicious encounters. Will she be able to solve the mystery at the plant shop, it will be maybe a month in which she will go with her mother to New York City. Her mother has been called in to help identify an odd assortment of plants. What Phoebe knows... "secrets love three things: darkness, solitude, and quiet."

This is a playful mystery. The writer is a young and creative winner of the second Story Pirates writing contest. There is great writing inserts directing you to turn to the back for the Mystery Creation Zone in which Rolo Vincent explains the "how-to" steps of writing mysteries. This format is the best resource tool for every educator or homeschooling parent. Why? Well as an educator who was trained in the 6-traits of writing and was a state assessment scorer, this book is a genius "hook" for teaching the craft of mystery writers. A must have for every language arts program in grades 3-college. There are other titles/genres in this series: https://www.storypirates.com/
MrsK https://mrskbookstogo.blogspot.com/

[Read Ribbet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Story Pirates series has an interesting form (perhaps just a bit gimmicky). The idea for the narrative story comes from a student who won a story idea contest. The narrative is written by Jacqueline West (part one of the book). It is an actual mystery tale. Part two of the book is an interactive guide that provides tips on how to write one's own mystery including links to elements in the actual story to provide examples. This series could be a good way to use a mentor text and bridge the connections between reading a genre and writing a genre. The mystery is an interesting tale of unusual plants that for me goes a bit off the rails when it moves into a more fantasy storyline, but intermediate readers may enjoy that more. The writing tips and guides are well presented. You can read the mystery on its own. Use the writing tips on their own (though they do refer to the story). or do both.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second of The Story Pirates books based on an elementary student's idea. This time the book is a mystery possibly involving ghosts.
The second half of the book is a guide to writing mystery stories.
Throughout the actual story the two characters outside the story line refer the reader to pages in the guide for further information.
Terrific way to introduce writing styles and techniques to younger readers.

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! This is a great book for elementary age kids who love mysteries! This also is great way for beginning writers to learn the basics of how to write their own mystery story! English teachers will want this book in their classroom to get kids excited about writing

[Tia Garrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story more than the first in the series, and found the references to the writing section less invasive and distracting. The writing section is still geared towards younger writers but with a focus that made it more palatable.

[Alyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this to my boys to start their days. There is a great hook in the book and they were really intrigued by the yellow eyes. Thank you story pirates for making this story happen!

[Kenny Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this to my daughter, and she loved it. She wants to write her own mystery story now!

[Pumkin pie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the story. What a great idea! I also loved that it had helpful tips on how to make a good mystery book. So fun!

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Adriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful spooky mystery without too much actual peril. Bonus for the mom trusting the daughter when she laid out some spooky observations and teamed up together to solve a mystery.
Story: white girl and mom travel to mysterious exotic plant shop and find a mystery of animal transformations
Diversity of experience: N/A
Friends: Boy/girl
Family Relationships: Mom trusts daughter to pursue mystery
Embarrassment: 0
Sad: 0
Scare Factor: some bad guys chasing and a bit of mysterious yellow eyed dogs, and spooky shadows.
Sex/Drugs/Rockandroll: 0

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt boring or slow or maybe I was just far past the target audience when I read it. Also I’m not big on ghost/paranormal books so maybe that’s part of it :/