research – Mom Read It

Is it Real? Loch Ness Monster, by Candace Fleming, (March 2025, Scholastic Focus), $8.99, ISBN: 9781339037936

Ages 8-12

I loved books like these when I was a kid. Candace Fleming, award-winning kidlit author, has a new book coming out in March. The first in a new series, Is it Real? Loch Ness Monster is perfect for paranormal and science fiction fans. Fleming combines storytelling with nonfiction and puts the reader behind the investigator’s desk, inviting them sharpen research skills. Using case studies, photos, and analysis and research, Fleming leads readers through the process of evaluation and critical thinking to decide for themselves whether or not the Loch Ness Monster could be considered fact, fiction, or maybe something in between. Using a fictitious database in the story as an example, Fleming instructs readers on how to use search terms to retrieve best results, and shows readers how photos can be emphasized to tell a different story. Back matter includes additional resources. Is it Real? makes research and deduction fun and should make a good purchase for collections where creature books do well.

Visit Candace Fleming’s author website for free activities and teaching guides.

Candace Fleming is the versatile and acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children and young adults, including Crash from Outer Space: Unraveling the Mystery of Flying Saucers, Alien Beings, and Roswell; The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun’s Tomb; The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II; The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh, winner of the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award; the Sibert Award winner Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera; the Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner and Sibert Honor Book The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of the Russian Empire; and the critically acclaimed Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Visit Candace Fleming online at candacefleming.com.

The Haunted House Project, by Tricia Clasen, (Oct. 2016, Sky Pony Press), $15.99, ISBN: 9781510707122

Recommended for ages 8-12

When Andie’s mom died in a tragic accident, she left a huge hole in her family. Andie’s dad drifts from job to job, spending more time drinking and gambling away their insurance money. Andie’s older sister, Paige, holds down a diner job in addition to being a high school student, just to make sure there’s food on the table. Andie’s having a harder time holding it together at school, and teachers are starting to notice. Seemingly left on her own most of the time, Andie comforts herself with ghost stories; she wants desperately to believe that there’s a way she can reach out to her mother, somehow. When Isaiah, her science partner, suggests they study paranormal activity for their project, Andie gets a spark of inspiration: what if she were to haunt her family’s home, making them believe her mother was reaching out to them? Would it bring them back together? She sprays perfume, leaves objects and writes messages around the house, hoping to get a reaction from her father and sister. Whether or not it will be the reaction she wants remains to be seen.

The Haunted House Project is a touching story of grief and loss, and one girl’s attempt to bring her mother back the only way she knows how. She grieves not only for her mother, but the normalcy of everyday life. It’s an honest look at a girl coming of age under difficult circumstances; it’s a look at how friendships can change, and it’s a story about one child trying to repair her broken family. Readers will feel sympathy for Andie; some will, empathize with her, and most readers will understand the desperation of wanting. This is a strong yet gentle work of fiction that will go well with Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Cynthia Rylant’s Missing May.

Tag: research

Is it Real? Loch Ness Monster – Candace Fleming explores cryptids

A girl tries to bring her family back together in The Haunted House Project