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Something Queer #8
Something Queer at the Birthday Party
Jill's plans for surprising Gwen on her birthday begin to fall through when the party invitations disappear and a painting vanishes. Reprint. AB.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
19 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Levy
196 books67 followersElizabeth Levy has been writing and publishing books for over thirty years and sometimes now she meets kids whose parents read her books when they were children! She has written over 80 books, a number that continues to surprise her, as it surprises her how long she's been at it.
Over the years they've printed lots of her books - over five million of them.
She loves to try writing different types of books - everything from funny mysteries to novels about kids who get in trouble to history.
One of the most pleasant surprises about writing is that she's been invited to travel all over the country and even the world speaking to children, teachers, and librarians. She's made some wonderful friendships and gotten lots of ideas for her books. One of the most special treats is that kids have drawn wonderful pictures of one of her favorite characters, Fletcher.
She grew up in Buffalo, New York, then went to Brown University, where she majored in history. When she graduated, she came to New York City and worked for ABC-TV and then for Senator Robert Kennedy. She has lived in New York ever since, and she loves it. She knows all the best places for salami, she has run four marathons, and she has completed many 5-borough bike tours, so she thinks she really knows this place well.
At certain times of the year, she can be found out at Shea Stadium watching her team, the New York Mets. She has always loved baseball.
Mostly she enjoys hanging out with her friends. They spend lots of time going to movies or plays, playing sports, having meals together.
When she's alone and not writing, she is usually reading. She reads mysteries a lot, always has, which is probably why many of her books are mysteries.
Over the years they've printed lots of her books - over five million of them.
She loves to try writing different types of books - everything from funny mysteries to novels about kids who get in trouble to history.
One of the most pleasant surprises about writing is that she's been invited to travel all over the country and even the world speaking to children, teachers, and librarians. She's made some wonderful friendships and gotten lots of ideas for her books. One of the most special treats is that kids have drawn wonderful pictures of one of her favorite characters, Fletcher.
She grew up in Buffalo, New York, then went to Brown University, where she majored in history. When she graduated, she came to New York City and worked for ABC-TV and then for Senator Robert Kennedy. She has lived in New York ever since, and she loves it. She knows all the best places for salami, she has run four marathons, and she has completed many 5-borough bike tours, so she thinks she really knows this place well.
At certain times of the year, she can be found out at Shea Stadium watching her team, the New York Mets. She has always loved baseball.
Mostly she enjoys hanging out with her friends. They spend lots of time going to movies or plays, playing sports, having meals together.
When she's alone and not writing, she is usually reading. She reads mysteries a lot, always has, which is probably why many of her books are mysteries.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 11, 2010
Levy has done it again. She created (yet again) another fabulous mystery involving Jill with her creativity and Gwen will her mystery-solving braces.
June 6, 2025
A surprise birthday party for Gwen ends up with a surprise investigation.
Thank goodness for Fletcher the basset hound who makes the day by popping out of a giant birthday cake!
Thank goodness for Fletcher the basset hound who makes the day by popping out of a giant birthday cake!
April 8, 2016
This story was about a surprise birthday party for a girl named Gwen that was thrown by her friends for her. Things start to happen that shouldn't like invitations and presents going missing and the cake disappearing. The kids investigate every possible reason why they could be gone and eventually find them in the dog house because a jealous boy named Sam hid them there to feel like it was his birthday. Sam has his birthday near a major holiday and is angry that nobody celebrates for him the same way.
Gwen ends up feeling bad for Sam and they have the birthday party together. This is a good story for kids who like mysteries or feel like they are left out of something. The layout of this book was cool because they had explanations of things that not every kid might know like cross-sections and definitions of words like RSVP on the page. All of the pictures were drawn with only orange and black too which gives it an interesting effect.
Gwen ends up feeling bad for Sam and they have the birthday party together. This is a good story for kids who like mysteries or feel like they are left out of something. The layout of this book was cool because they had explanations of things that not every kid might know like cross-sections and definitions of words like RSVP on the page. All of the pictures were drawn with only orange and black too which gives it an interesting effect.
September 27, 2015
This is an entertaining story in the Something Queer Mysteries series by Elizabeth Levy. It's a fun hybrid between a graphic novel and a chapter book. It has lots of cartoonish illustrations and short chapters and is a fairly quick read.
I thought the mystery was engaging, even if the mystery is somewhat predictable. We enjoyed reading this book together and are a little sad that we've only been able to find a couple of the books in this series at our local library. I actually purchased this one and we donated to the library after we finished reading it.
I thought the mystery was engaging, even if the mystery is somewhat predictable. We enjoyed reading this book together and are a little sad that we've only been able to find a couple of the books in this series at our local library. I actually purchased this one and we donated to the library after we finished reading it.
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August 3, 2010A little girl gets her presents stolen at her birthday party and she has to find out who using clues. I think this is a book definitely for older children, but it can be used for predicting what will happen next.
December 2, 2009
Great and funny, love the mystery.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews