The Name of The Game Was Murder:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0440219167/ref=nosim?tag=beyondwordsle-20

Overview: The Name of the Game Was Murder, by Joan Lowery Nixon, is a great introduction to the classic mystery genre for middle-school students. The heroine Samantha finds herself as guest in the isolated island house that belongs to her kindly aunt and her aunt's mysterious husband Augustus, a famous author.

Augustus informs all his guests that he has written a book that reveals the guilty secrets of each guest -- secrets that will destroy their reputations. The next day, he is found murdered. Students will love looking for clues with Samantha, as she tries to find the damaging manuscript and avoid being the next victim of a murderer.

Included:

·       33-question test (multiple-choice) covering whole novel with key.

·       40 Study Questions covering whole book with key.

·       Word Search Puzzle

·       Introduction to the Mystery book genre for middle schoolers

Age Level and Length:   6^th grade Vocabulary level; interest level is grades 6-8.    The book is 187 pages long and should take 3-4 hours for the average 6^th grader to read. The test should take 30 minutes or less.     Study questions should be broken into four assignments of about 20 minutes each. The word search and introduction are flexible. 

Maturity or Political Issues: Although a murder is the central plot issue in the novel, the scene is not especially gory or disturbing, and no direct violence is shown.  As the “secrets” of the other guests are revealed, some of them require a bit of world knowledge for the reader to understand.  For example, one guest was guilty of plagiarizing a book, and another guest stole votes in a political election.  There are no sexual or political issues. 

Additional Considerations: This author, Joan Lowery Nixon, wrote other mystery novels for middle schoolers, as well as some “scary” novels that are not too intense.  Students who like this novel should check out her other books.  Also, reading the Introduction to the mystery novel genre, which includes some author recommendations for school-age readers, might turn some young readers on to a new and enjoyable genre.