Amazing Brain Mysteries. (Mystery Files). Cynthia O’Brien. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015. 32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $10.95 (pbk.), $21.56 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-8074-8 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-8070-0 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-9967-6 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-9963-8 (html). Subject Headings: Brain-Juvenile literature. Memory-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-5 / Ages 8-10. Review by Gail Hamilton. *** /4
	Lost Treasures. (Mystery Files). Cynthia O’Brien. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015. 32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $10.95 (pbk.), $21.56 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-8075-5 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-8071-7 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-9968-3 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-9964-5 (html). Subject Heading: Treasure troves-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-5 / Ages 8-10. Review by Gail Hamilton. *** /4
	Unsolved! (Mystery Files). Marie Powell. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015. 32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $10.95 (pbk.), $21.56 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-8077-9 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-8073-1 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-9970-6 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-9966-9 (html). Subject Heading: History-Miscellanea-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-5 / Ages 8-10. Review by Gail Hamilton. *** /4
	Magic and Illusions. (Mystery Files). Tim Cooke. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015. 32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $10.95 (pbk.), $21.56 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-8076-2 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-8072-4 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-9969-0 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-9965-2 (html). Subject Heading: Tricks-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-5 / Ages 8-10. Review by Gail Hamilton. *** /4

excerpt:

In 1795, three boys found a hole on Oak Island., Nova Scotia, in Canada. As they dug into the pit, they discovered oak planks. The hole had been dug by someone - but why?

A local story said that the pirate Captain Kidd had buried a fortune on Oak Island just before his arrest in 1699. The promise of riches has drawn many treasure hunters to the area. In the 1800s, following the discovery of the pit, excavators began to dig into it. They uncovered deadly traps guarding its secrets. Hidden channels flooded the pit with water.

About 90 feet (27 m) into the pit, diggers found a stone slab with mysterious markings. Years later, an expert deciphered the message. It read, “Forty feet below, two million pounds are buried.” But despite the money spent by fortune hunters, nothing has ever been found. In 2010, the Canadian government tried to ban treasure hunters from the “Money Pit.” Today, private investors own the island and continue the search. (From Lost Treasures.)

Now numbering 12 titles, the “Mystery Files” series presents intriguing stories about mysterious events and phenomena, some of which have never been solved. Each book consists of 13 chapters, all of them double-page spreads. Readers need not read the stories in sequence; rather, they can select only those that might appeal to them. Ranging from long ago to the present day, some of the stories, such as the mystery of King Tut’s tomb, are well-known, while others, such as the disappearance of all of the villagers in a remote Inuit Community in Nunavut in 1930, likely will be unfamiliar to most readers. A “Mystery File” text box accompanies each entry and describes the background history of the event or attempts to offer a rational explanation for the mystery. Along the bottom of each double-page spread is a “Mystery Word” along with its definition (these same words and more also appear in the glossary). The text provides just enough information to pique the reader’s interest in the subject matter. Archival black and white photos, colour photos and drawings bring the text to life. A table of contents, a glossary, an index and a list of books and web sites for further study are included.

      Though scientists have studied the human brain, the body’s control center, for years, they are still stymied by some aspects of brain activity. In Amazing Brain Mysteries, readers will learn about the phenomena of déja vu, premonitions or the sixth sense, dreams, near-death experiences, telekinesis and mind control, past lives, and the extraordinary ability of savants to create fantastic works of art or music or to excel in math and memory tasks. Other topics in this title include hypnotism, emotions and the amazing connectedness between twins.

      Tales of pirate loot, sunken ships and curses abound in Lost Treasures. This book tells the stories of a buried gold mine in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona, four treasure maps belonging to Scottish pirate William Kidd, the thought-to-be mythical city of El Dorado, lost gold that was sent from France to the southern states of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, and the discovery of ancient Roman coins by two young men who were crossing a field with a metal detector. Other topics in this title include the curse of King Tut’s tomb, the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail, Mexican bandit Pancho Villa’s theft of 122 bars of silver from a Wells Fargo train, and the search for art, gold and jewels stolen by the Nazis during World War II.

      Though most of the mysteries discussed in this series remain mysteries to this day, Magic and Illusions highlights several different types of magic tricks and explains how they are done. Seeing a person sawed in half, walking on water or levitating will cease to be as astonishing to readers as it once might have been. Some secrets of escape artists, such as Harry Houdini and David Blaine, are revealed as are magicians’ card tricks, and, more specifically, how David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear during one of his performances. Séances, sword-swallowing, and Penn and Teller’s bullet-catch are also demystified.

      Conjecture plays an important role in Unsolved! for many of the mysteries in this title have plausible solutions, but none have been proven. Some, such as the Man in the Iron Mask and the missing Princess Anastasia, youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, concern individuals, while others, such as the stories of the men who escaped from Alcatraz, and the disappearance of entire villages, concern groups of people. Readers will find out if there really was a Robin Hood, what might have happened to aviator Amelia Earhart, and the possible meaning behind the huge heads carved on Easter Island. The most recent mystery mentioned in this title is the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in March 2014.

      Providing just enough information and plenty of illustrations, these books will appeal to reluctant readers.

Recommended.

Gail Hamilton is a former teacher-librarian in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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