Three Times Lucky (edició 2013)

This is a children's fiction novel that I would use with 3rd to 5th grade students. This book will keep students engaged with the character's adventures. This book will teach students about friendship and to solve struggles like using their imagination and "detective skills" in them. ( )

Moses "Mo" LoBeau has made a home for herself in Tupelo Landing, the ward of Miss Lana and the Colonel who collectively own a cafe. When an FBI agent comes asking questions and a stingy old man dies, Mo and her friend Dale start a detective agency and start to investigate.

A fun tall-tale mystery full of larger-than-life characters, this is a book I would've liked as a kid. The Colonel can't remember who he was, and Mo dreams of reuniting with her "Upstream Mother" from before she was a baby adrift during a hurricane (thus the name), figuring she may be able to leave messages in a bottle to find her. But while there's charm, there's dark too, as Dale's father is an abusive drunk. The mystery itself hinges on a few coincidences, but I enjoyed the way Mo kept trying to insert herself into the investigation, much to Agent Starr's chagrin. ( )

Mo LoBeau is a sixth-grader who does not know her biological mother. After a hurricane hit, Mo was sent downstream in a raft to then be adopted by a couple. In this town, a local man is found murdered. Mo takes it upon herself and her friend Dale to act as detectives and solve the murder. All the while Mo continues to send messages in a bottle upstream hoping her biological mom will find them. It's an ongoing mystery with this book. To a middle grades classroom, this book can capture the attention of inquiring minds as the many climaxes in this book will have heads turning. I personally enjoyed this book as the adventures the two main characters go through make it enticing on what is the next case they will have to solve. I just found it to be slow in the beginning, but towards the end, it began to go by faster. ( )

A delightful story about a girl who was found as a baby on a makeshift raft after a hurricane and raised by a man, who crashed his car and lost him memory during that same storm, and his friend/girlfriend/partner. The three of them run the only cafe in their tiny southern town, and Mo (the girl) is determined to find the mother who lost her all those years ago. But when a murder turns the tiny town upside down, she and her best friend, Dale, turn their detective skills toward solving mysteries other than parental ones.

This one's an absolute hoot. Great characters, excellent atmosphere and setting, and a great little mystery with nice twists along the way. Fantastic middle grade read. ( )

Children's mystery/middlegrade (some violence/scariness; harshest language used is "crud"). Murder mystery shakes up charming small Southern town. Quirky, layered, recommended! ( )