Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew 18 – Earth Day Escapade

Earth Day Escapade is a Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew mystery by Carolyn Keene, a short case for 8 year olds about a class parade float and whoever is wrecking it.

What happens

Nobody at River Heights Elementary collected more cans and bottles than Nancy's classmates. So they get their own float in the Earth Week parade, a flatbed truck with a birthday cake made out of recycled cardboard and a throne for the King or Queen of Green.

Nancy wants that crown very much. She crosses her fingers, squeezes her eyes shut and whispers "pick me" while her teacher reads out the winning name.

It isn't hers. It's Felicity Faulkner, the new girl.

Then somebody leaves a bottle on the throne with a note rolled up inside it. Queen of Green, come clean. Nancy slips it into her pocket instead of handing it over, because she doesn't want to spoil Felicity's week. A few days later the throne is buried in rubbish.

That small decision is the bit I liked. Nancy isn't only working out who did it. She's carrying round the guilty feeling of the thing she didn't say, and dreading the moment Felicity finds out.

The chapters are very short and there is a lot of talking. Bess and George bounce off each other on every page (they're cousins and could not be less alike). Deirdre Shannon flips her hair and announces that the oldest clothes she owns are six months old.

There's a fair amount of cheerful grossness too. Worms in the compost bin, chewed gum in the clue bags, a crown made from dog food tins the family dog has licked clean. Your reader will probably enjoy that more than you do.

The suspect list is the sort a 7 or 8 year old can actually hold in their head. About four people have a reason to be cross, they all say so out loud, and the clues are a note and a pile of rubbish rather than anything technical.

One thing to flag. It's American, so it's third grade, recess and a lunchroom rather than Year 4, playtime and the canteen. Nothing that will stop a child reading, but useful to know if yours likes asking what words mean.

What to read next

If the detecting is the part they want more of, The Flower Show Fiasco puts the same three girls on another River Heights case, with a neighbour's prize roses missing on the morning of a very grand flower show.