The Lemon Tree Caper: A Mickey Rangel Mystery / la Intriga del limonero: Colección Mickey Rangel, detective Privado

by René Saldaña, Natalia Rosales-Yeomans (Translator)

Overview

Mickey Rangel, kid detective extraordinaire, has just exited the school bus one sweltering afternoon when he hears a blood-curdling shriek coming from the creepy neighbor lady's house.

"My lemons, Mickey, my prize-winning lemons. They're gone. They're all gone," Señorita Andrade cries. She is famous for her lemons. People think she's a witch because she somehow manages to keep lemons on the tree year round. And for years she has won first prize in the annual Lemon Festival and Lowrider Bicycle Show.

Who could have removed several sacks full of lemons? Was it only a coincidence that Tina had set up a lemonade stand just down the street? With a bowl full of lemons sitting right out front?! Or could it have been someone trying to sabotage Señorita Andrade's entry in the upcoming festival?"I'll get to the bottom of this, ma'am. Mickey Rangel is on the case."

In this second bilingual book in The Mickey Rangel Mystery series for intermediate readers, author and educator René Saldaña, Jr. has crafted another engaging book for kids, and his wise-cracking, smart protagonist will appeal to even the most reluctant readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781558857094
Publisher:	Arte Publico Press
Publication date:	10/28/2011
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Language:	Spanish
Lexile:	950L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

Mickey Rangel is back on the case, this time to search for Senorita Andrade's missing prized lemons. She was planning to use them to make watermelon lemonade and enter it at the annual Lemon Festival where she was almost guaranteed to continue her winning streak. When the neighborhood miscreant's little sister opens a lemonade stand on the hottest day of the year Mickey naturally is suspicious but he quickly realizes that it's unfair to judge her based on her brother's reputation. As clever as the first, Mickey's detective skills are much greater than you would expect from a fifth grader but his passion is inspiring. As in the first case the culprits are not those you would expect and they are only found out with a little help from Mickey's ?angel.' The fast pace encourages you to read all the way to the end which doesn't take long and leaves you wanting more so Saldana is behooved to dream up more cases for Mickey to solve. Reviewer: Mandy Cruz

Children's Literature - Mandy Cruz

Gr 3–6—The young detective introduced in The Case of the Pen Gone Missing/El caso de la pluma perdida (Piñata, 2009), is back. On a blistering hot day in South Texas, Mickey Rangel is on his way home from school when he hears shrieks coming from the house of Señorita Andrade (or Bruja Andrade, as she is known to many behind her back.) The woman is old, alone, smells like moth balls, and sports a nasty, hairy mole on her nose. They say she summons rattlesnakes and howls in the night, earning her the label of an old witch. But hearing her screams that day causes Mickey put on his detective hat and look beyond the rumors to investigate what is going on. He discovers that someone has stolen Señorita Andrade's prize-winning lemons, and he's on the case. This entertaining bilingual chapter book that will engage readers and draw them into the mystery.—Jessica McClinton López, King County Library System, Issaquah, WA

School Library Journal

Missing fish? Missing lemons?Sounds likea job for "the great Mickey Rangel, Private Detective."

It starts as an ordinary south Texas scorcher. Young Mickey is riding the bus home from school when he hears "the blood-curdlingest, spine-chillingest shriek in the history of Nuevo Peñitas." He recognizes the voice of his neighbor, Senorita Andrade, so ugly the kids call her Bruja (witch). Mickey dutifully waits until the bus reaches his stop, then races to her house, dumping his backpack along the way. He finds her pacing the floor anxiously and wringing her hands. Hergoldfish are missing! Mickey notices the lid on the fish tank is open, there's a small puddle of water on the floor and wet paw prints lead to the back porch, where Papuchín the cat wears a very satisfied expression. "Another crime solved by the great Mickey Rangel," but (un)fortunately, only the first. This time it's a moan and not a shriek from Señorita Andrade that signals trouble. Someone has stolen all the lemons from the beautiful tree in her backyard. This case is more complicated, but is there any doubt that Mickey can crack it? Although the first-person narration doesn't always feel true to the young sleuth's age, the drawings sprinkled throughout make the story more inviting for young readers.

This brisk novella in English and Spanish offers two nifty whodunits for young mystery lovers. (Mystery. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews