Kids love The Mysteries of Whisper Bay®!
Why choose these books?
Why choose these books?
Too many books that are geared toward kids are full of content that many parents don't want their children exposed to. Classic, appropriate content means that, unlike many books today, your child will be free to enjoy a fun story while learning about new hobbies, building their vocabulary, and encouraging real relationships in the real world.
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Appropriate Content
No troubling takes on gender, identity, alternative lifestyles, occult, fantasy, or lack of good adult role models.
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Faith Building
Characters at different points in their Christian faith grow and make decisions naturally throughout the story.
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Creativity & Learning
Set in the pre-internet era, characters have hobbies, interests, and relationships that model creative thinking and problem-solving. Unlike fantasy books, no one has super powers.
Testimonials
Testimonials
What readers are saying!
The books are:
- The Crossword Puzzle Mystery (November 2023)
- The Runaway Island Mystery (April 2024)
- The Stage Ghost Mystery (October 2024)
- The Bible Camp Mystery (Coming Soon!)
1 - The Crossword Puzzle Mystery
1 - The Crossword Puzzle Mystery
Helene, Marta, and Jimmy find out firsthand that newspapers and books can be tricky things. When mysterious robberies start popping up in the region, they realize they've landed right in the middle of a clever scheme and some bold burglars. Using maps and their code-solving skills, the three are determined to get to the bottom of what's going on.
New friends can be hard to trust, and sometimes old friends can't be trusted at all. But the mystery club members learn that not only can they trust each other, more importantly they can trust in God, even when the situation is scary.
2 - The Runaway Island Mystery
2 - The Runaway Island Mystery
Sometimes the kitchen sink can get you in trouble. Helene, Marta, Jimmy, Charles, and Violet put their best detective skills to use when they discover that the strange people seen around town and at the farm hold a bigger secret than they could have imagined. They are not who they say they are, and are up to no good.
With the help of a kitchen sink, a wandering cat, and God-given help to face down a big storm on the lake, the gang discovers that with incredible courage and creative thinking, they might get a new friend and change his life forever.
3 - The Stage Ghost Mystery
3 - The Stage Ghost Mystery
The mystery gang grows by two more members as they find themselves involved with their most dangerous mystery yet.
A ghost seems to be haunting the theater, intent on stopping the play through dangerous sabotage. Lucy and Leroy need help to keep the production going and to make sure no one else gets hurt. Using their wits, and relying on God and each other to help piece together who is behind the sabotage, the mystery gang has a chance to do a favor for the whole community. But will all of them make it to the final act?
This is a series of chapter books for youth who enjoy mysteries, learning about new topics, and challenging their reading skills. They are not written down to the reader, but written up.
These stories are set in a realistic setting (circa mid-1980s) without the use of magic, witchcraft, fantasy, New-Agey Star-Wars-type "force" or other special powers, superheroes, or anything but what a real person could do in a real situation. Readers may be confronted with new words, old technology, and challenged to learn about topics and hobbies that might not be as common in today's digital and fantasy-focused world. Readers will discover regular kids using their heads to make a difference in their community, solving mysteries to help people and in the process, learning how to be a good friend and follower of Jesus Christ.
As to what kind of books inspired them...imagine if you mashed up the following books:
- The Hardy Boys
- Nancy Drew
- Tom Swift
- The Dana Twins
- The Bobbsey Twins
- The Happy Hollisters
- Chesapeake Charlie
- Brains Benton
- The Mad Scientists Club
- Elizabeth Gail
- Trixie Belden
- Joy Sparton
- Crystal's Mysteries series
- Teddie Jo
- The Peppermint Gang
- The Thorne Twins
- Bro-Kee series
Those are the books I read as a kid, and that's where my influence comes from.
These are books in which the characters have a Christian faith. Families are traditional, and the common ethics of gratitude, politeness, self-control, obeying parents, and honest are at work. When the characters make decisions contrary to what God wants, they experience the end result. However, while the books aren't going to be made into movies any time soon, they are not "sappy" in that the Christian elements are woven into the way kids would really think, talk, and behave.
I am not an educator, and I don't know what level your children or grandchildren are reading at. I've included samples to help you gauge the nature of the books.
These are chapter books, without pictures. They would likely be appropriate for ages 9-14, depending on the reading abilities and interests of the child.
I don't use small words or basic sentence structures all the time. If you want kids to be good readers, I would encourage giving them something challenging even if it means you read it to them.
These stories take place in a fictional setting, the towns and area around a Lake Avalon.
However, you may recognize some of the place and people names as cities and towns from North Dakota, as well as other identifiers or similarities to places in North Dakota. The setting is in northern latitudes, much like North Dakota, having similar flora and fauna, with some exceptions (e.g. mountains to the north).
The stories are set in a pre-internet era. Basically, the 1980s, which is when I grew up.
The books are available on this website as well as online wherever books and ebooks are sold. Search using the title of the book or the author name (Julie R. Neidlinger). If you are a subscriber to my Substack blog, you also have access to the books as they are serially made available, including some with audio so that you and your family an listen to them via the Substack website or app.