With the rise in questions around artificial intelligence and education, ensuring that students of all ages are still learning valuable tools to make informed opinions, research effectively and question the status quo is vital. Often, genre fiction like mystery novels is seen as a frivolous distraction from more "important" literary novels. However, highly anticipated middle grade mysteries can be both fun and educational titles to add to a middle grade reading list.
1. Builds their deductive reasoning skills.
Reading mystery novels helps students build deductive reasoning skills through the act of trying to solve the mystery. While "playing detective", students are tasked with compiling facts, deciphering motives, and synthesizing their research into well-informed hypotheses that they will continue to test and adjust as more information becomes known. Students are often practicing these lifelong skills without realizing it, as they're simply enjoying a good book in the process.
2. Gets them asking questions.
Through solving a mystery, students must continually question what's happening. While asking informed questions is a useful skill by itself, another skill students are honing is their ability to discern facts from assumptions. Especially in the current information environment, helping young readers understand that just because something is presented to them seemingly as "fact" that it may actually be an assumption based on a number of preconceived notions, logical fallacies, or false information. As artificial intelligence becomes embedded into our everyday lives with all its hallucinations and inconsistencies, ensuring students can ask the right questions, even when things are presented as fact, will be a necessary tool for navigating this new information landscape.
3. Fosters a love for reading.
Perhaps most importantly, studying mystery novels helps to foster a love of reading -- especially for reluctant readers. When students are reading a book first for the plot, and then for the themes, it encourages them to keep reading. In fictional worlds, authors can craft stories that help push the boundaries of students' imaginations and can unlock the key to promoting a practice of reading throughout students' lives. According to a report published by Scholastic in 2019, between the ages of eight and nine, the number of kids who say they love reading drops from 40% to 28%. By presenting students with books that excite and entertain them, there's a higher potential that students learn to enjoy reading.
Book Recommendations for Busy Teachers in 2025
Interested in including more mystery novels in your curriculum? Here are five highly anticipated mystery novels to include in your 2025 reading plan:
A Copycat Conundrum (The Misfits) by Lisa Yee, illustrated by Dan Santat. When San Francisco is under strange attacks—like earthquakes affecting only two city blocks at a time—who're you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that's who! The Misfits are on the case in this hilarious illustrated series! Learn More
Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson Mega bestselling and award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson (The Weight of Blood; White Smoke) makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with a can't-put-it-down murder mystery set on Martha's Vineyard. Learn More
A Home for Unusual Monsters By Shaun David Hutchinson A girl who has spent her life in disguise tackles a mission that uncovers lies and surprises around every corner. Nothing is as it seems in the next cozily creepy monster mystery from acclaimed author Shaun David Hutchinson. Learn More
London Calling by James Ponti In this sixth installment in the New York Times bestselling series from Edgar Award winner James Ponti, the young group of spies stages a rescue in Rome in another international adventure perfect for fans of Spy School and Charlie Thorne. Learn More
Smoke & Mirrors: A Novel by Rosalyn Ransaw An exciting and twisty middle-grade debut mystery novel—perfect for fans of From the Desk of Zoe Washington and The Parker Inheritance—about the disappearance of a famous magician, and one boy’s quest to find the truth. Learn More
Rosalyn Ransaw is a children's author based in Columbus, OH. She graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Political Science. At her day job, she is a Digital Marketing Manager focused on all things social media and paid advertising.
When not writing, she loves to cry watching romantic comedies and eat her weight in buffalo chicken dip.
SMOKE & MIRRORS is her debut novel.
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