Fifth-grade sleuth Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton step in to solve the mystery when they notice that a tennis trophy has gone missing from a locked cabinet inside their gym teacher's office. Continuing to puzzle it out throughout the day, they eventually discover that the trophy was borrowed by music teacher Ms. Green, rather than stolen...

First published in 2003, Cam Jansen and the Tennis Trophy Mystery is the twenty-third entry in David A. Adler's series of beginning chapter-books devoted to the eponymous character's crime-solving adventures. The series began in 1980, with the publication of Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, and now includes thirty-six volumes. I have fond memories of reading the earlier titles when I was in primary school, memories that recently prompted me to begin rereading the entire series, as part of a small project to familiarize myself with the fiction available to children who are just getting going with longer chapter-books. I like the premise of these books - Cam, whose real name is Jennifer Jansen, has a photographic memory (thus, the nickname, which is a shortening of 'camera'), which she uses to catch thieves - and I enjoyed rereading many of the earlier titles that I remembered from my girlhood. That said, some of the later stories have been leaving me feeling a little indifferent... almost bored. With this one, I also found it difficult to suspend my disbelief, wondering whether Cam and Eric's teacher would really have allowed them to leave class and run around the school solving a mystery. Perhaps that's just the adult reader in me?

Series reading is strongly recommended for this beginning chapter-book level, because it is believed to build reading skills through repetition, so I would still recommend this one to fans of the character, but it is definitely not one of the stronger books in the series. ( )

I read Cam Jansen and the Tennis Trophy Mystery. Cam and her friends Eric and Danny are in gym class. They get in trouble for talking and are told to go sit by his office and read the rules posted on the wall. While they are over there, Cam looks into Mr. Day’s office and uses her photographic memory to notice that the tennis trophy is missing from the cabinet in the office. Mr. Day won the trophy in a tennis tournament against Ms. Green. Cam stays after gym to talk to Mr. Day about where his trophy might be. He does not want her help so he sends her back to class. Cam and Eric spend the afternoon thinking about how the trophy could have been taken from the cabinet, and who could have taken it. Eric thinks he has an idea so their teacher Ms. Benson allows them to go back to the gym and talk to Mr. Day. While they are there, Cam figures out that the trophy was taken when the office was being painted because the cabinet was away from the wall and there is no back to the cabinet. Now they know how the trophy was taken, but not who took it. Cam and Eric go back to class, and while working on a math problem Cam thinks that Ms. Green must have taken the trophy because she is the only one who would want that particular trophy. After school, Ms. Benson, Cam, and Eric go talk to Ms. Green and discover that she borrowed the trophy and left a note on Mr. Day’s desk. When they go talk to Mr. Day he looks around the office and finds the note among other papers. The two teachers decide to have a rematch and use Cam as the referee because of her photographic memory.

All of the Cam Jansen books had Cam and Eric as the two main characters. They also all had a similar plot. Cam and Eric would encounter some type of mystery and Cam would use her photographic memory and Eric’s help to solve the mystery. The books always seemed to end with some sort of reward or positive experience for Cam. The theme in all of the books was if you have the ability, you should help those around you who are having a problem.

The setting in each book was different and the other characters besides Cam and Eric depended on where the story was set. The specific problem Cam faced in each story was different as well.

GR: L
GL: 2.2
DRA: 20
Lexile: 360L