The summer of the Spotted Owl (A Dinah Galloway Mystery #4) by Melanie Jackson Date of Publication: 2005 ISBN: 1551431421 Number of Pages: 180

REQUIRED READING ABILITY: Junior:Low/ Average
GENRES: Mystery
THEMES : Good versus Evil - Sacrifice and Redemption - Family

SUMMARY:
Dinah, amateur detective, is at it again. This time a hang glider crashes into the pool where she and her sister, Madge are house-sitting and steals her inflatable turtle.

She is determined to find out why this intruder keeps popping up in her life and why a bald man is always lurking around. Her friends, Talbot and Pantelli, assist her in finding out the “who” and the “why” of the tricks being played on their neighbour, Rowena.

Her sister's boyfriend also gets Dinah involved in the plight of the Spotted Owl. Together with an inexperienced newspaper reporter, Dinah stumbles upon a conspiracy to destroy their natural habitant.

Can Dinah connect all the dots in order to stop the destruction of the Spotted Owl Habitant? Can she figure out who is behind the conspiracy and the tricks?

WHO WOULD LOVE THIS BOOK? A kid who...
- who loves mysteries
- has a strong sense of justice
- is interested in endangered animals
- has sibling(s) who appear to be totally opposite to them
- is interested in environmental issues
- has visited Vancouver

WHAT ELSE?
This is the fourth installment in the Dinah Galloway mystery series. Each book stands alone. Students will enjoy Dinah's spunk, her sleuthing abilities and her sense of humour. The plight of the spotted owl and the attempts to save its natural habitant will appeal to the naturalist reader.


RELATED LINKS:
Students can check out Dinah’s blog at http://www.dinahgalloway.blogspot.com as well as information about Melanie at http://www3.telus.net/dinah/about%20melanie.htm .