A Book with a Great Sense of Fun
The Mystery on Observatory Hill is Eleanor Rosellini’s gift to her readers; it is a history lesson, a wonderful read, and an intriguing mystery that they can help solve by following the clues. Her fans will once again be charmed by the familiar sister and bother from her previous two novels. Eleven-year old, Elizabeth Pollack, her younger brother Jonathan, and their parents are in Germany staying in the guesthouse at the Hamburg observatory. From the first day they find a mystery to solve, the best kind of mystery, an old mystery from the past, mysteries that everyone else has forgotten. This time readers are also gifted with a delightful secondary character and another amateur detective who is from Germany. Poor Elizabeth, not only does she have to contend with weird Jonathan and his favorite book "The Encyclopedia of the Totally Disgusting," but she has to find a way to keep up with both Peter and Jonathan. Rosellini paints pictures with her mystery books for young readers, leaving them feeling as if they just spent time thumbing through an old picture album.
What do three mysterious dots have to do with the disappearance of the scientific notes of a famous astronomer who worked in one of the observatories? Elizabeth uses her notebook to keep track of ideas on how to proceed, but she seems to be running out of ideas, while Peter is always coming up with a new one, and Jonathan is more interested in ghost stories and the castle dungeons. Despite their different styles and interests, Elizabeth, Jonathan, and Peter form the Three Star Detective Agency. Elizabeth is not so sure that she will be able to handle Peter the Great and Jonathan the Annoying, but she is willing to try for the sake of finding out what happened to the astronomer’s missing notes. With a great sense of fun and an understanding of the older sister younger brother relationship and “is three going to be a crowd,” this is a remarkable series that keeps on improving with age.
Teachers and librarians will want to add The Mystery on Observatory Hill to their collections, because it is a well written book that their elementary readers will pick up again and again. When a young reader and an older reader share this book it will bring them hours of delightful reading. That interaction and the ability for both ages of readers to enjoy the book make it an excellent purchase for home, school, or library. The addition of discussion questions at the end of the book will instigate a great discussion among readers, and a great way to continue learning about being a world explorer.
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Review by Mary Beth Whitman, Library/Media Specialist
Happy Hollow School, West Lafayette, IN
Eleanor Rosellini has done it again! Her third book in the Hidden Treasure Mystery series, The Mystery on Observatory Hill, is sure to be a hit. This time Jonathan and Elizabeth find themselves at the center of TWO mysteries, and for the first time they sleuth on foreign soil, Germany. Nine-year-old Jonathan, armed with his Encyclopedia of the Totally Disgusting, and eleven-year-old Elizabeth, with her favorite book, How to Think Like a Detective, team up with their new German friend Peter Hoffman to form the Three Star Detective Agency.
The Pollack family is living in a guesthouse in Hamburg, Germany, in an area which features 12 observatories, one abandoned, and one soon-to-be renovated castle. Barely off the plane Elizabeth receives a fortune cookie whose fortune says, “The dim haze of mystery brings old and new together.” Little did Elizabeth know that the fortune accurately describes what awaits her.
Mystery number one involves a theft ring that is robbing mansions of jewels and other valuables every couple of weeks. Mystery number two involves two missing scientific notebooks belonging to Professor Vollrath dated 1918 and 1919 that have been missing for over 80 years. The only clue to their whereabouts is a drawing of three dots arranged in a triangle. Super sleuths Jonathan, Elizabeth, and Peter, using chewing gum, strands of hair, dirt mounds, staining liquid, rats, and even an old lady with painted on eyebrows, set out to solve both mysteries.
As always, Rosellini does a marvelous job of blending mystery, humor, facts, and good old storytelling to pique students’ interest. Our many copies of The Puzzle in the Portrait and The Mystery of the Ancient Coins, the first two books in the series, are constantly in circulation, and I am certain The Mystery on Observatory Hill will quickly become another student favorite.
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