Down the Rabbit Hole (An Echo Falls Mystery)

Bibliography:Abrahams, P. (2006) Down the Rabbit Hole (An Echo Falls Mystery). New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Genre:Mystery

Reading Level/Interest Age:12-15yrs

Reader's Annotation:Ingrid finds herself in the middle of a mystery: who murdered Cracked-Up Katie, and what is the connection to the Prescott House?

Author:Peter Abrahams is the author of the Echo Falls Mystery series; there are currently three volumes in publication.

Plot Summary:Ingrid is an eighth-grade soccer player and actor. She loves to read Sherlock Holmes and soon finds herself in the middle of a real murder mystery. Ingrid's enthusiasm for solving the mystery grows with each clue she discovers. Meanwhile, she is cast as Alice in the Prescott Player's production of Alice in Wonderland. Soon her role as Alice and her role as crime solver start to intertwine. Ingrid takes some considerable risks to find out more information. She cuts class, lies to her parents, breaks into Cracked-Up Katie's house, steals her grandfather's car and drives without her license--just to name a few. Ingrid is overwhelmed with all of the information she uncovers, and she is frustrated by the conclusion that she is dangerously close to uncovering.

Critical Evaluation:Peter Abrahams succeeds in drawing the reader into this mystery. Even though the novel is for younger teens, older teenagers and adults will enjoy the characters and plot twists in this novel. I did not see the final plot solved until the very end. Even though she makes rash decisions, we like Ingrid. She is authentic, and she is interesting. I like how we see her mystery solving skills at work. She is a modern Nancy Drew. I also liked the setting of this novel. The town of Echo Falls (and its inhabitants) were refreshing and not cliche. Each of the characters is unique and some of quite funny. I recommend this novel to young mystery readers.

Curriculum Ties:Student choice book report, compare with Alice in Wonderland

Book Talk Ideas:read a chapter of the novel, present a few of the clues to see if anyone can guess the mystery

Challenge Issues:murder mystery

Why was this text included in this project?I included this novel to add a mystery to my project.