Young sleuths on the trail of their own identity

All it takes is a book cover in a certain shade of yellow, or the spicy taste of red Fruit Stripe, to transform me into a 9-year-old lying on the couch with a tower of Nancy Drew mysteries and a mouth full. chewing gum . I can still feel that frantic need to find out who stole the plans, or hid the jewels, or switched the suitcases on the cruise ship. However, now I realize that the central mystery was Nancy herself. The amateur sleuth was brave, smart and beautiful. But who was she really? Even if you were obsessed with reading every book in the series, like me, you would never learn much more about her. Developing the characters was never the point.

Four new mysteries of high school students take the opposite approach. Their intricate plots certainly make you guess, but these stories also fulfill the promise of the best novels for young readers: shedding light on the deeper mysteries of identity and self.

Take, for example, Katryn Bury’s debut, “Drew Leclair gets an idea.” Seventh grader Drew Leclair may be named after Nancy Drew, but she has some skills Nancy could only dream of. She grew up on true crime stories and her favorite book, “In the Shadow of a Killer,” is a primer on criminal profiling. When it turns out that a troll has taken over the unofficial student-run Instagram account at her school—and Drew herself is the target of the troll’s anonymous posts—she uses her profiling toolbox to find out who’s behind the hack. Meanwhile, Drew is also dealing with a host of other concerns, from her mother’s affair with her school counselor (with whom she left the family to live in a yurt in Kauai) to the way her best friend, a boy, suddenly becomes interested in kissing.

The mystery comes to a satisfying conclusion – Drew is able to expose the bullying culture at her school – but the story really comes into its own when she begins to process the feelings she’s been avoiding. Does she want her mother to come back or not? Does she like boys or girls? Does she trust her friends? Drew digs deep and talks everything through.

Note the wonderful relationship she has with her father. Nancy Drew’s father, in all his wisdom, never thought of planning “Murder and Mayhem” movie nights for his titian-haired daughter.

There’s a lot going on in this book and it can be hard to keep up with its many aspects, but the cast of characters (and the community they live in) are richly imagined.

Felix Fine, the main character of the sixth grade of “Nothing is small”, by Carmella Van Vleet, is also familiar with adult crime-solving tactics. He has just joined the Forensic Science Club, where he gains the skills needed to solve a series of “staged crimes” at his high school. With every fingerprint he analyzes and witness he interviews, Felix hopes that he will also come closer to solving another mystery: finding his biological father.

Growth hormone deficiency has made Felix smaller than some 8-year-olds, and he’s starting daily injections to help him grow as he should. Felix doesn’t mind being small – he even has a collection of funny T-shirts with things like “No, I’m not an elf.” If he discovers that his father was also small, that’s all the evidence he needs to launch a full investigation.

Felix’s model detective is Sherlock Holmes – he is overjoyed when another character gives him the nickname “Shortlock Holmes” – and the title of the book comes from a quote from Holmes: “To a great mind, nothing is small.” Like Drew Leclair’s story, Felix’s is as internal as it is external. As he follows clues to his father’s identity, he learns about the person and friend he himself is beginning to become (while making some age-appropriate blunders).

His maturity is tested in an over-the-top scene that strains credibility, but also puts the rest of his concerns into perspective. Felix’s problems are manageable. He may not get exactly what he wants by the end, but he gets more than he bargained for.

Chester Keene, Kekla Magoon’s titular hero “Chester Keene Cracks the Code”, is also a sixth grader with an absent father. Unlike Felix, however, Chester knows why his father is missing: he is a spy on a secret mission. And Chester is in training to be just like him. “A keen sense of observation is a hallmark of effective espionage,” Chester says. “You have to know everything, see everything. … Information is power. A small detail can tell a whole story.” Chester likes to observe, because he prefers a life on the fringes of high school, shaped by its many rituals.

When a ferocious bully fixes on Chester, he emails his father for help. His father never calls or visits – he never breaks his cover – but he sends thoughtful responses full of advice. Then, out of nowhere, he sends a task, a puzzle that Chester must solve with the help of a free-spirited girl named Skye. The purpose is unclear, but Chester relies on his father’s plan.

Chester is a sensitive, likeable character that you support from the first page. But when Skye bursts into the school cafeteria, it’s like Chester leaving black and white for Technicolor. Together these characters crackle – I can’t remember the last time I read such perfect dialogue.

The puzzle is smart. While Chester and Skye stand in the way of some criminals, another plan also unfolds, and it comes as a surprise. Readers may guess the secret identity of Chester’s father, but tension builds as we wait for it to sink in for Chester.

“Chester Keene Breaks the Code” delivers a truly new mystery – along with a robbery, a heartbreak, some unforgettable characters and lots of laser tag.

One of these novels is not quite like the others. “miserable water park,” the first book in Kiersten White’s Sinister Summer series, is wickedly weird. The Sinister-Winterbottom siblings have been taken to their Aunt Saffronia for the summer, though none of them can remember exactly how they got to her house. Let’s just say she’s not the warm and cozy kind of aunt. “How often would you tell you to eat?” she asks. “If I put some food in the morning, will that be enough?” – and it only gets worse from there. She leaves them in a water park and tells them that there should be enough time for a week to find something that has been lost. What exactly it is or how to find it are questions for the 12-year-old twins and their 16-year-old sister – who is always on her phone – to investigate.

Fathoms of Fun has a Gothic theme, with prizes in Roman numerals and staff in lace collars. The waterslides shoot from gargoyles on a stone tower and the food in the snack bar is unspeakable: eel in jelly and pickled oysters, followed by a Victorian mince pie. After some adventures, however, the kids discover their mission, and the barber rolls on to his Scooby Doo-esque conclusion. The Sinister-Winterbottoms also reveal family secrets in their own way.

The mystery here is almost secondary to the humor, which is very broad – kids are more likely to burst than this reviewer. But the dark comedic tone will appeal to anyone who loved “A Series of Unfortunate Events”.

I have to admit that I had a deep-seated reaction to White’s descriptions of Fathoms of Fun. They made me long for dazzling blue water, scorching pavement, piles of striped towels and the smell of baked dough. If that isn’t a summer reading recommendation, I don’t know what is.

Kate Egan’s first novel, “Golden Ticket,” was published in June.