"Double Identity" by Margaret Peterson Haddix is a mystery novel that tells the story of Bethany who slowly comes to suspect that she just might be the clone of an older sister who had died months before Bethany was born. Shortly before turning thirteen, Bethany is suddenly packed into the family car and driven across several state lines to a small town. She is left with an elderly aunt without explanation, and her parents drive off without letting her know if or when they might return for her.

She had heard her father tell her Aunt Myrlie, "She doesn't know anything about Elizabeth." Strangely, different people in town react when they see Bethany for the first time as if they are seeing a ghost. Aunt Myrlie refuses to answer Bethany's questions and will not discuss anything at all about the past. A couple of times, Bethany was able to talk on the phone to her parents, but suddenly she finds the phone number is no longer a working number. Has she been abandoned by her parents? If so, why are they acting as if they are in danger? Is she in danger?

Bethany gradually pieces together her parents had once had a daughter named Elizabeth. Elizabeth had died before Bethany was born. From pictures she found, it appeared Bethany looked exactly like Elizabeth. Just why would that lead to all the secrecy and the apparent danger? Still, her Aunt Myrlie would not verify any of Bethany's findings, because she had been sworn to secrecy by Bethany's parents.

More and more things start happening to Bethany that add to the mystery. Four different birth certificates for Bethany are mailed to her aunt's address - all with different names. Several thousand dollars in cash from her father are also received in the mail. A strange man shows up in town asking questions and seemingly shadowing Bethany.

A young reader will find it hard to put down Bethany's story until the girl finds answers to explain what is happening to her. Can she ever resume a normal life?

A small town paperboy loves to play detective
and solve mysteries

Ted Hammond was the paperboy for the small town of Plattsford, Nebraska. Early one morning, while delivering his papers, he knew he had a new mystery to solve. Why? He saw a face - a girl's face - in the upstairs window of the Anderson house. Nobody had lived there since the Andersons had boarded up the house and moved away two years ago. At least nobody was supposed to live there.

Plattsford was a town that a lot of people had moved away from in past years. So many had moved away from the town, that the school Ted attended had shrunk to only nine students. The students were all in one large room - Room One - while the rest of the building was closed down to save heat and electricity. There were four fourth graders and four eight graders and, smack dab in the middle, one sixth grader - Ted Hammond. So Ted had a lot of time to himself - time to read detective stories and to think about mysteries that popped up occasionally in Plattsford. One of the biggest mysteries was how to keep the town from shrinking any more. If the town lost any more families, the school might have to be closed altogether. Then what?

Ted just had to slip out and investigate what was going on at the Anderson house. He tried to keep hidden, since he didn't want to be seen by anybody in the house. Just as he was about to give up and return home, he saw a girl leaning against the barn. "Are you gonna tell on us?" she asked angrily. Ted stuttered when he told her no. She then told him that since he would probably be back, he might bring some food with him. Ted guessed that the girl wasn't alone, but he would have to wait until later to find out who else was there. He had to hurry home to do his chores. But the Case of the Face in the Window had just blown wide open.

Things got complicated when Mrs. Mitchell, Ted's teacher, told him she had seen him at the Anderson place and asked him what was going on. Ted had promised not to tell on the girl and her family, so he made Mrs. Mitchell promise that she too would keep the secret. And she did. For other reasons, however, the town authorities did find out about the hidden family. Interestingly, Ted's efforts to solve a mystery and, later, the town's generous response to a runaway family's needs were to have considerable influence on reviving the small town of Plattsford. You need to read Andrew Clements' "Room One" to find out the details.

A lost young husky tries to join a pack of wolves
in the wilds of Alaska

A male husky puppy is born into a litter with three female sisters. With their mother they live in a kennel with about thirty sled dogs in pens around them. A fence surrounds the kennel to keep the dogs in and to protect them from the wild animals. Kate and Ted, the couple that ran the kennel, named the new male puppy, "Granite."

Granite lived the normal life of a husky puppy until one day he is surprised when Kate fastened a harness on him. He didn't know it, but his training was starting that would turn him into a sled dog. After several months, a stranger showed up and was examining the young huskies. He wanted to buy a couple of sled dogs. To his dismay, Kate let the man take Granite out of the kennel and start to put him into a truck. Granite didn't like the way the man was treating him, so he bit the man on the hand. The man dropped Granite, and the dog slipped away and disappeared into the trees.

Granite was not prepared for the dangers he met in the forest. Above all, he didn't really know how to find food and stay alive. When he was finally discovered by the wolf pack, it seemed he would not have long to live. Luckily, for Granite, Snowdrift, a female wolf who, sadly, had just lost her cubs to human hunters, decided to protect the young husky and treat him like he was her own cub. Ebony, the huge wolf who was leader of the pack, accepted Snowdrift's choice. The other wolves were not as willing to accept the husky puppy into the pack, but as long as Ebony accepted him, they reluctantly went along.

Even with Snowdrift as his foster mother and Ebony as a protector, life was not easy for Granite. He knew the other wolves resented him and that he had a long way to go to be accepted into the pack. You need to read "Child of the Wolves" by Elizabeth Hall to find if the young husky could ever be fully accepted into a pack of wild wolves.