Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton, along with the rest of their fifth grade class, head to the local park for their school's sports day in this second of two super special editions in David A. Adler's beginning chapter-book series devoted to their mystery-solving adventures. In three separate episodes, Cam uses her photographic memory to solve the case, catching the thief at Zelda's Bakery, finding a missing soccer ball, and catching the thieves who attempt to steal the students' snack money...

Unless I decide to take up the Young Cam Jansen early readers - always a possibility, given my completist nature - Cam Jansen and the Sports Day Mysteries marks the conclusion of my recent Cam Jansen project. As mentioned, it is the second of two super specials, following upon Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries, and is meant to accompany the thirty-four numbered volumes of the main series. While it will no doubt please fans of that series, I have to say that it provided a somewhat mediocre ending to my reading project, which I began as part of a larger effort to familiarize myself with the fiction available to beginning chapter-book readers. I chose this specific series because I had fond memories of the earlier books, which I read when I myself was a girl. On the whole, I found those earlier volumes held up to a reread, but that later entries in the series were less engaging, and far more formulaic. That said, this very quality - having an easily recognizable formula - is said to be a very helpful quality for readers at this stage, as they continue to master their skills while exploring longer fiction. The Cam Jansen books aren't wonderful mysteries, but they do feature two engaging main characters, and an entertaining formula that will keep fans reading. On the whole, I would recommend this series for the _target group - children ages seven to nine - even if I didn't end up loving it. As for this title in particular, I would recommend it to the usual crowd - Cam Jansen fans, and beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mystery stories. ( )

00012013

The Backward Race Mystery -- The Soccer Game Mystery -- The Baseball Glove Mystery. Cam gets into adventures and attempts to solve three different mysteries when her class goes to Franklin Park to run races, play baseball and soccer, and have a picnic.