Field Trip Mysteries: The Burglar Who Bit the Big Apple

By Steve Brezenoff and Chris Canga

While in New York City on a field trip, Sam Archer and her friends find themselves immersed in a run of crimes at sightseeing locations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781434298782

Steve Brezenoff

Steve Brezenoff is the author of the young adult novels The Absolute Value of -1, which won the IPPY Gold Medal for young adult fiction, and Brooklyn, Burning, which was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book, was a Best Fiction for Young Adults selection by the American Library Association, and won the ForeWord Book of the Year Gold Medal for young adult fiction. Born on Long Island, Steve now lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Beth, and their son and daughter, Sam and Etta. His main is a Blood Elf monk, but he's been known to run a Night Elf priest from time to time.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

MY REPORT

This has been a crazy field trip.

Most of my class is asleep. So are the teachers and chaperones. Two days in the Big Apple will make you tired.

And two days in the Big Apple solving the vandalism crime of the century will make you dead tired.

They say there are eight million stories in New York City. And maybe that’s so. But this is one of them. It all started when we landed at the airport …

* * *

Everyone over here! Mr. Spade, our sixth-grade teacher, called. All the students were still making their way off the plane, and the teachers were pushing us along.

Come on, kids, Ms. Stanwyck, our art teacher, said. We need to do another head count before we leave the gate.

Cat looked confused. I don’t get it, she said to me. How could we need another head count now? If the right number of students were on the plane, they must have gotten off.

Gum laughed. Unless someone jumped off with a parachute, he said.

Egg rolled his eyes. I think we would have noticed that, he said.

Gum shrugged. Maybe Anton Gutman locked himself in the bathroom, he said. We all laughed at that. Even Ms. Stanwyck laughed quietly.

The four of us hauled our bags over to where Mr. Spade was standing. The other teachers and chaperones were there too. There was Ms. Duran, Cat’s mom; Ms. Stanwyck; Mr. Neff, our science teacher; and Mr. Gutman, Anton’s father.

Mr. Neff was pointing at everyone from our class and counting off out loud. Twenty-two, he said. That means four are missing. Where are Stan and Puppy and Butter and Candy?

I tapped Mr. Neff on the shoulder. Um, Mr. Neff? I said. It’s Sam, not Stan.

Yeah, Cat said. And it’s not Puppy. It’s Cat.

And Egg, Egg added.

And Gum, Gum added.

I nodded and said, "And we’re

Reviews for Field Trip Mysteries

[kayceel_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sixth-grader Samantha ("Sam") and her friends have an opportunity to solve a mystery while on a school field trip to NYC - who is stealing items from famous sightseeing locations?While the characters in the story are 6th graders, the reading level of this book is much lower - a low 3rd grade level. While this seems to be an attempt at high interest/low reading level, the cover and tone of the story isn't very high interest. I'm selecting books for a 3rd-5th grade book club, and I'm pretty sure the older girls will find this childish.However, for a 3rd grade crowd, this would be interesting - following along while Sam and her friends solve the mystery (complete with a red herring, though that term isn't used), knowing these are 6th graders, might make it more fun for them.I'd give this to on level 2nd and 3rd grade readers, or to younger kids with a higher reading level, especially those precocious K-1st grade readers.Ages 008-011.RL: 2.4.Guided Reading Level: N.