Chasing Justice through Literature: Anatomy of a Mystery
- Carol Nelson
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
Let's chase it. Let's chase it together!
We can tread carefully through rising darkness to find our way to truth. We can unravel the missteps and red herrings to find our way to the real culprit, and justice. We can run towards a solution that points beyond mere story to something greater - to truth, justice, and the freedom that comes from true understanding. We can chase down themes together - teachers and students on a joint quest through setting, plot, clues, and misdirection - to recognize deeper truths to which mystery authors point.
Reading and writing can be so much more than a dry exercise in reading comprehension! Mysteries are the perfect genre to help young readers problem solve, critically think, and look beyond story elements to greater themes - like temptation, love, truth and justice in a way that builds understanding, wisdom, and a desire to see wrongs righted.
Consider starting your reading with the following story and book selections (and the themes they point towards which make for great discussions with kids of all ages!):
Early Elementary (K-2) Nate the Great, by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat Gentle mysteries about a boy named Nate, who is on a problem solving quest to solve every day mysteries with his dog, Sludge, and his friends: Annie, Oliver, Rosamond and more.
Theme(s): Observation skills, Problem solving, Helping others, Friendship
Primary (3-5): Encyclopedia Brown - Boy Detective, by Donald J. Sobol Solve brief, family-friendly mysteries with Encyclopedia Brown, a brilliant young detective who loves his family and helps his community solve crimes to redeem people's property from the neighborhood gang, find missing jewelry, and arrive at justice through problem solving. Mysteries are brief and solutions are at the end of the book.
Theme(s): Fairness, Justice, Family, Honesty, Logic, Observation
Middle School (6-8): The Hound of the Baskervlles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Explore this classic Gothic mystery on the English Moors with Sherlock Holmes and his faithful sidekick, Watson. Holmes unravels a dark mystery involving a family's legacy, a huge spectral hound, and unexpected relational ties while exploring the human motives behind what seems like a supernatural hound.
Theme(s): Family, Greed, Truth, Justice, Blessings vs. Curses, Superstition vs. Reason, Love & Protection
High School (9-12): High School: The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton This short story collection highlights a modest (and seemingly bumbling) Catholic Priest with extraordinary insight into human nature, psychology, and theology. The first case, The Blue Cross, includes broad and beautiful truths including Father Brown's observation that his adversary, Flambeau (a thief who had tried to steal the Blue Cross featured in this story) was disguised poorly as a priest because he "attacked reason...[which is]...bad theology."
Theme(s): Temptation, Deception, Justice, Redemption, Grace, Forgiveness, Insight, Humanity
Building understand with readers of all ages takes time and investment. This year, I am exploring mysteries with students young and old! And today, I invite you to join me - whether that is by contacting us HERE or by simply using our free resource below on the Anatomy of a Mystery to help students of any age follow clues and red herrings to deeper and more meaningful themes!
We care about our community, so it is our joy to provide resources like the one below as our gift to you:
Click below for our gift to you - an easy printable file for you and your students:
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