Hardy Boys Secret Files 02 – The Missing Mitt

Franklin W Dixon's The Missing Mitt is a Hardy Boys Secret Files mystery for 7 year olds about a lucky baseball glove that vanishes right before the biggest game of the season.

What happens

It's the last Little League game of the year. The Bayport Bandits haven't lost once, and neither have the Johnston Jupiters. Joe, who's eight, has already won the World Series in his head before breakfast.

Then Dad changes the battery in the kitchen clock, and the brothers realise they've got minutes to get to the park. Joe's shortcut goes down an alley, through a secret gap in a hedge and between a LOT of trees. Frank gets knocked off his bike by a stick that was thrown for a big yellow dog called Lucy.

They make warm-up just in time. But then Jason Prime, the team's star, finds his lucky mitt gone. It's the glove his dad won in the World Series, with Winner stitched on it, and the whole team touches it before every game. Jason is sure a Jupiters player stole it, and a fight nearly breaks out.

So Frank and Joe do what their detective dad taught them. They start with the six Ws (and yes, "how" counts, because it ends in a w). They build a timeline in Frank's notebook and talk to anyone who might have seen something.

It's a lovely mix of mystery and sport. There's plenty of real baseball, but you don't need to know the rules to follow it. The brothers make a great pair too. Frank is the thinker who notices tiny details, like the orange stain that tells him what flavour the drink is. Joe is loud and dives straight in.

The coach is firm that nobody gets accused of stealing without proof, and it comes across as fair rather than preachy. Speedy the pitcher, who talks faster than anyone can listen, is a brilliant bonus.

If you've got a reader who likes sport stories and puzzles in equal measure, this one hits both.

What to read next

For more, go back to where the Secret Files start with Trouble at the Arcade. The brothers have been practising all week for a video game tournament at Fun World, and there's a bet riding on who wins.