THE CASE OF THE LONELY GRAVE by Albert A. Bell, Jr.

THE CASE OF THE LONELY GRAVE by Albert A. Bell, Jr.
Author's Choice Press - 2000
ISBN: 059512559X - Paperback
Teen / Young Adult - Mystery

Reviewed by Jo Rogers, MyShelf.com

Albert Bell has written this story for children, but it is an entertaining mystery that even adults could enjoy. It has some memorable characters, as well as lessons about why hatred and bigotry are wrong.

Steve Patterson and Kendra Jordan have been friends since they were five. Though Steve is white and Kendra is black, the kids in school think nothing about them being friends. It is the adults in this Kentucky area that give them strange looks. But Kendra and Steve, now eleven, ignore them and still walk together to catch the school bus. On their way, they always walk past the church cemetery, where one lonely grave sits apart from the rest. They never paid it any attention, until one day, Kendra notices someone has put flowers on the grave, when no one has before.

Kendra loves mysteries, but Steve loves baseball. He is not as interested in finding out who put flowers on the lonely grave as Kendra is, but he's determined that she won't get hurt. So he helps her investigate the case. When they learn that a history professor from Halley College has been bringing the flowers, they look at it for the first time. They learn the little girl who died lived between 1856 and 1862, and died during the Civil War. Her parents aren't in the cemetery, and the three of them begin to try to find out why she is buried all alone.

THE CASE OF THE LONELY GRAVE has new vocabulary words to learn, lessons on working together, and on not judging others, especially not by the color of their skin, lessons many adults still fail to grasp. But while they learn, kids are treated to a great can't-put-it-down mystery. Thank you, Mr. Bell, and may you write many more.