Back in the day, I used to binge as many Cam Jansen mystery books as I could. I loved them! It felt just right to read a mystery and try to solve it, and pretend that I too had photographic memory. I didn't, but I sure tried! Honestly, I was better then than I am now! Wish I could find my keys using photographic memory...

Anywho, I love all things Halloween so I thought - why not jump back into the nostalgia and check out The Mystery at the Haunted House? It brought me back to my youth and I oddly remembered who the thief was in the end! Shocker, I know. How did I break the case twenty years later? Some things just stick with you.

I find this series very entertaining and the perfect introduction to mysteries for middle grade readers. They are sweet, fun and easy to read. Sure, it's a little dated now but they still hold up to me. I didn't even notice that there was no mention of technology, cellphones, iPads and every other device we have now. It's a good old fashioned mystery.

This is one of my top recommendations for books to help children be introduced to chapter books.

Three out of five stars. ( )

Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton solve a mystery at an amusement park in this thirteenth entry in David A. Adler's chapter-book series devoted to their adventures. When Aunt Katie's wallet goes missing, Cam soon comes to believe it is stolen, and through the use of her photographic memory, realizes that the theft occurred while everyone was walking through the Haunted House attraction. Soon she and Eric, along with Aunt Katie and Uncle George, are hot on the heels of the thief...

At a brief 58 pages, Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Haunted House is, like its predecessors, intended for young readers who are just getting going with chapter-book reading. The mystery itself is fairly rudimentary - most of the books in this series involve some kind of theft - but the target audience will no doubt find it suspenseful. I have fond memories of reading some of the earlier books in this series when I was a young girl, although by the time this one was first published, in 1992, I had moved on. As a whole, I think the series, although by no means brilliant, is entertaining. I do wish that Eric was given more to do, and that the resolution didn't always rely on Cam's photographic memory, but that's the down-side of formulaic series reading. The upside, of course, is that it provides structure and repetition for readers who are just finding their feet with longer books. Recommended to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mysteries, and to fans of Cam Jansen. ( )

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"Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Haunted House" by David A. Adler is a book in the Cam Jansen series. Cam is spending the day at an amusement park when her aunt's wallet gets stolen inside the haunted house. Cam then has to use her photographic memory to figure out who stole the wallet. This book is a great young reader's chapter book for several reasons. It has large print and simple words. is part of a series, so children who enjoy this book can read more with familiar characters. Finally, Cam has something special about her: a photographic memory. Since she is presented as a normal kid, children can relate to her and imagine what it would be like to have a photographic memory. The genre is contemporary realistic fiction. The media used for this book is ink and colored pencil. ( )

Summary:
This book is one in a series of books where the main character Cam Jansen solves various mysteries. In this book Cam Jansen, her friend Eric Shelton, Aunt Katie, and Uncle George are spending the day at an amusement park. When Aunt Katie’s wallet goes missing Cam makes it her mission to find out who stole the wallet. After Cam and Eric suspect two boys of stealing the wallet, they find out it wasn’t them. Next Cam goes back to a haunted house where they all had gone through. She finds a mysterious man, dressed in all black, leaving the haunted house with a bag and taking it to his car. She then notifies the police who catch the man. The police then find out that not only had the man stolen Aunt Katie’s wallet, but many other wallets too. As a reward for solving the mystery Cam is given free passes to the amusement park.

Personal Reflection:
I took a chance and read it to my five year old son, because it was a longer book and didn’t have many pictures I wasn’t sure he would enjoy it…I was wrong! He loved the book, as did I, and he even guessed the mystery. I would suggest this book to parents looking to read longer books to their children. Overall it was a good book.

Classroom Extension:
-This book could be used as a take home reading assignment.
-This book could be used as a class project to learn about solving mysteries.