Search for the Shadowman

By Joan Lowery Nixon

For fans of Gillian Flynn, Caroline Cooney, and R.L. Stine comes Search for the Shadowman from four-time Edgar Allen Poe Young Adult Mystery Award winner Joan Lowery Nixon.
 
        Twelve-year-old Andy Thomas isn’t thrilled with his teacher’s assignment to explore family history. But when he starts asking questions about his ancestors, he is surprised to discover a black sheep named Coley Joe Bonner. No one wants to discuss what happened in the family’s past. Everyone, including Andy’s own relatives, advises him to stop his investigation. But Andy continues and searches everywhere, from the Internet to the local cemetery, to discover the truth. Will Andy’s search hurt those he loves or make them realize that it’s never too late to seek social justice?
 
“A riveting tale of suspense set against a background of fascinating historical context.” –School Library Journal
 
“Hints of disgrace and treachery…children will read the story for the fun of guessing who is warning Andy off the case.” –Booklist

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9780307823427

Joan Lowery Nixon

Joan Lowery Nixon (1927–2003) was a renowned author of children’s literature, best known for series like the Orphan Train Adventures and Casebusters. Born in Los Angeles, she began dictating poems to her mother before she could read. At the University of Southern California, Nixon majored in journalism, but took a job teaching the first grade upon graduating. In 1949, she and her husband moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, and in 1964 she published her first novel, The Mystery of Hurricane Castle. Nixon became a fan of mystery fiction when she was a child, and many of her most popular series incorporate elements of sleuthing. She won four Edgar Awards for best young adult mysteries, including prizes for her novels The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore (1979) and The Name of the Game Was Murder (1993). In addition to writing more than 140 young adult novels, Nixon also co-wrote several geology texts with her scientist husband.      

Reviews for Search for the Shadowman

[kimsalyers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

this was a very good and interesting read

[tlcalderon4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A school assignment leads 12-year-old on an investigation into his family’s secrets. Intrigued by a name that’s been crossed out in the family Bible and a shadowy face in a family portrait, Andy decides to find out why Cole Joseph Bonner was branded a thief by his family. Andy’s research takes him back into west Texas during the late 1800s. Despite discouragement from relatives and a suspicious anonymous letter-writer to leave family skeletons in the closet, Andy utilizes Internet message boards, library archives and cemetery searches to piece together the trail Coley Joe took with the money meant to stock the family’s new ranch with cattle. Andy’s final discoveries lead him into a moral dilemma between clearing the reputation of an ancestor or preserving the relationship with his best friend. Nixon weaves a suspenseful tale which includes some interesting facts of Texas’s wild west past.

[mrsarey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Andy Thomas doesn't want to learn about his family history, but has to for an assignment. Then he discovers he has a criminal in his past. Can he uncover the truth?