Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize

Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton confront a mystery at their fifth grade carnival in this ninth chapter-book devoted to their crime-solving adventures. Intended to raise money for the school library, the carnival has many games, one of which - the Dime Toss - has a suspicious number of winners. With her photographic memory, Cam figures out what is really going on, and helps to prevent a pair of cheaters from triumphing at the expense of the carnival...

I enjoyed reading the Cam Jan Mysteries when I was a girl, and have been enjoying revisiting them of late, as part of a project to familiarize myself with fiction intended for readers just getting going with simple chapter-books. Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize isn't one I specifically remember, but I still was able to guess what was going on almost instantly. That seems to be the case with all of the books in this series - as an adult reader I find the mysteries all a little obvious. That said, I do think the target audience will find them more engrossing, and will enjoy them. ( )

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At the school carnival, Cam Jansen thinks something funny is going on when only two people can win the prizes at the dime toss. Book #9

GR: L
GL: 2.1
DRA: 20
Lexile: 520L

This is a realistic fiction book. Cam and her friends are participating in the school's fund raising carnival. Something is amiss with the dime toss. It appears to be too easy to win and soon all the prizes are gone. Is the game rigged? If so, by whom and how?