Hardy Boys Clue Book 12 – Sea Life Secrets

Franklin W Dixon's Sea Life Secrets is a Hardy Boys Clue Book mystery for 7 year olds about a sea star that vanishes from an aquarium touch pool.

What happens

Frank is nine and Joe is his younger brother. Their class trip to Bayport Aquarium is meant to be all about the brand-new touch pool. Frank's also quietly determined to win the Junior Marine Biologist badge before Brady, the class know-it-all, gets it.

Then the daily penguin parade goes wrong. A penguin called Lee spots a bumblebee and gives chase. The others follow. Within seconds there are penguins in the pool, kids everywhere and grown-ups flapping about.

When things calm down, Seymour is gone. He's a chocolate chip sea star (yes, really) and the star of the touch pool. He can't survive out of the water for long either.

Out comes the clue book. The boys work through their five Ws, who, what, where, when and why, and the suspects start to pile up.

There's Brady, who's desperate for a home aquarium. There's the very grumpy man inside the giant Seymour mascot costume, who's cross he didn't get the top job. And there's Mira, who wanted to take Seymour home for her twin sister.

It's very silly in the best way. Joe is always hungry, the fish puns come thick and fast, and every wrong guess ends in a daft reveal. A chase through the jellyfish tanks finishes with somebody skidding on spilled lemonade. At one point it looks like someone is actually eating the missing sea star!

Frank and Brady trying to out-fact each other is lovely too. Neither of them will admit the other one knew something first.

Just before the answer, the story stops and hands over to your reader. There's a page of questions asking what they think happened to Seymour, and they can have a go before they turn over. It's a nice way to make them feel like the third detective.

What to read next

This is book twelve of the Hardy Boys Clue Books. If they'd like to go back to the very first case, The Video Game Bandit has Frank and Joe helping out at a team fundraiser where the star prize is a brand-new games console.