Mystery School

You think you know the world of magical boarding schools? Not from a teacher's perspective at a school for at risk youth. Like any 22-year-old who grew up obsessed with fantasy novels, Clarissa Lawrence expects all her Harry Potter fantasies to come true when she is invited to teach at a school for witches. Her dreams of learning magic - and being a good teacher - are complicated when she finds out her deceased mother was the equivalent of the Wicked Witch of the West.

When William Wilbur earns a scholarship to the prestigious Snyder School of Excellence for Eighth Grade, he knows he will have to adjust to an unfamiliar environment, unique teachers, and a brand new social scene.

Sue “Shoefly” McKinley isn’t your average middle schooler. Sure, she’s got friends, a locker full of mismatched socks, and a personality that practically kicks down doors—but she also happens to be the reigning queen of stomp. Known for her no-nonsense attitude and lightning-fast right hook (of the footwear variety), Sue lives by one rule: never let ‘em see your laces untied. From schoolwide mysteries and underground PTA shoe cults to flying high-tops and runaway fashion shows, Shoefly Sueis the wild, witty, and wonderfully weird adventure of a girl who believes in justice... ...

Shifty McGifty and Slippery Sam don’t just make amazing cakes. These two brave bakers solve wacky mysteries too! Halloween at St Spectre’s school brings out the cheekiest of ghosts! And who is to blame when the weather goes crazy? A power-grabbing red panda, maybe? Certainly not the raccoon gang fixing the museum’s toilets - they’ve got dastardly plans of their own!

All Dylan wants is mojo. What is mojo? It's power. The ability to command respect. It's everything Dylan doesn't have. He gets no respect at school, and when he finds the dead body of a classmate, even the police push him around. All the thanks he gets for trying to help the investigation with his crime-drama skills is a new nickname at school: Body Bag. So when Dylan hears about a missing rich girl from the other side of town, he jumps at the chance to dive into this mystery. Surely if he cracks a case involving a girl this beautiful and this rich, he'll get the mojo he's looking for.

We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh delivers the final book in her middle grade series Spirit Hunters, a gripping mystery and thrilling adventure, starring a Korean-American heroine and a diverse cast of characters. Harper is dealing with too many new changes in her house. Her cousin, Leo, is now living with them; her sister, Kelly, has started working at a local makeup store, Jeune; and Harper's spirit hunter abilities have grown increasingly more powerful and uncontrollable, making her a target for possession.

Handsome teacher Ashley Dean is brutally murdered at Hope Academy. It’s known as a rough place, but gossip blames the violence on a deranged intruder. DI Markham’s instincts say otherwise. Could this brutality have been the work of a student? Could there even be a connection with the staff? It seems unthinkable. After all, DI Gilbert Markham’s girlfriend Olivia teaches English at the school. Markham’s team probes deeper, and the local community begins to turn against Markham. Somebody in a position of power is hiding appalling information.

I’m just another school mum, doing the school run, I’m certainly not a serial killer, well not in their eyes anyway.

When a wealthy New York philanthropist pays top dollar for a private four-day ziti workshop, Nell Valenti wants everyone at the Villa Orlandini Cooking School focused on the task at hand. But complications abound when Nell’s boyfriend, Pete Orlandini, rushes to Rome for an unexpected business trip; Chef Orlandini is more preoccupied with a potential spot on an American cooking show than with preparing for the workshop; and an uninvited woman sneaks into the villa to inspect Pete’s olive grove.

Christmas is almost here, and Alice-Miranda and her closest friends are celebrating early at Highton Hall. But it's not all gingerbread, parties and present shopping. There are mysteries to be solved! Why are Christmas decorations disappearing and local stores empty of festive treats? What long-kept family secret does Alice-Miranda discover? More importantly, what will she do about it?

Lonely and a long way from her Iowa home, 12-year-old Jeri McKane reacts to boarding school the way most middle schoolers would. Even with close friends, she wonders whether her scholarship to prestigious Landmark School was worth it. She’s tempted to give up when her Mom can’t make parents’ weekend, and the school bus carrying her roommate, Rosa, disappears.

"My name is Ryuzaki Luca, half an angel, half a demon. Perhaps that makes me a full human. I am a first year at the prestigious Kuzusaki High school, a nationally famous school that hides a mystery I have sworn to unravel; a mystery of the day my city burned, and ash fell like snow. In the meantime, my grades take precedence over romance in order to maintain my scholarship, but I seem to keep running into women one after another. One might even think I’m gathering some sort of harem with the ecchi situations I keep getting caught up in, and women I end up helping".

In a few short terms since joining the exclusive Cimmeria Academy, Allie Sheridan has been kidnapped, fallen in love - twice, and become a pawn in an international power struggle. After months on the run, Allie returns to find the school in turmoil. The atmosphere is thick with danger. Overshadowing it all is Nathaniel. He is close - very close - to getting everything he wants. A secret civil war is tearing the British political elite apart. And Allie’s family is in the thick of it. Both sides want her.

Sixteen-year-old Alison wakes up in a mental institution. As she pieces her memory back together, she realizes she's confessed to murdering Tori Beaugrand, the most perfect girl at school. But the case is a mystery. Tori's body has not been found, and Alison can't explain what happened. One minute she was fighting with Tori. The next moment Tori disintegrated into nothing.

Via LaVie thinks she’s just an average fifth-grader. She has a mom and dad, an irritating older brother and a cat. She has friends (Molly Appleton is her bestie) and an enemy (bossy mean girl, Tailor Madison). And, she has plenty of worries about going to middle school in the near future. But Via also has a secret that makes her far from average: she’s an undercover genius who remembers just about everything she sees. It’s an ability that was encouraged by Via’s beloved grandmother while Via faced one of the biggest challenges in her life. And while her eidetic memory comes in handy...

At the very southern tip of South America looms an isolated finishing school. Legend has it that the land will curse those who settle there. But for Mavi - a bold Buenos Aires native fleeing the military regime that took her mother - it offers an escape to a new life as a young teacher to Argentina’s elite girls. Mavi tries to embrace the strangeness of the imposing house - despite warnings not to roam at night, threats from an enigmatic young man, and rumors of mysterious Others. But one of Mavi’s 10 students is missing, and students and teachers begin to behave as if possessed.

Cephas Buthelezi certainly talks the talk, Precious discovers, but would he have the wherewithal to deal with her current case, a man who has been attacked by ostrich rustlers and is eager to reassess his life? Meanwhile, there are difficulties at the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, where one of the apprentices has discovered the Lord; problems at home with the mysterious death of a hoopoe; and romantic complications when Mma Makutsi sets up a typing school for men.

Nadia's school is choosing a new mascot, and her idea is totally going to win! She’s also going to kick butt writing for the school newspaper this term.... Maybe. A couple of weeks in, the newspaper is a big mess. The mascot contest is mayhem, too. (Who knew choosing a costumed character could cause such controversy?) Then Nadia and Titi discover that the hippo amulet holds a second secret, one that’s super powerful - and super scary. Too bad they have no idea how to stop it. But Nadia is on the case!

Aside from the stitches and the head wound, Tom Henderson is the same old King Dork. He's still trying to work out who to blame for the new scar on his forehead, the memory loss, and his father's mysterious death. But illicit female hospital visitations, The Catcher in the Rye, and the Hillmont High sex-pocalypse have made him a new man. What doesn't make you stronger can kill you, though, and 10th grade, act two, promises to be a killer. Tom's down one bloodstained army coat, one Little Big Tom, and two secret semi-imaginary girlfriends.

Hanover Elementary is not your average school. The milk cartons whisper advice. The pencil sharpener leaks secrets. And the cafeteria meatballs occasionally move on their own. Tommy Tiddleton was just trying to survive another weird Wednesday when he stumbled upon the first clue: a glowing sandwich bag marked “DO NOT OPEN.” Naturally, he opened it. Now, with the help of his best friends—Dev the skeptic, Blister the chaos enthusiast, and Miss Sheila the world’s most suspicious lunch lady—Tommy must navigate a bizarre underground archive, a sentient gravy spill, memory-erasing tacos...