Mystery of the Bear Cub (PB)

Tamra Wight lives in Turner, Maine. For twenty-five years, she and her husband and their two children ran the nearby Poland Spring Campground, which provided her with plenty of inspiration for her spirited and exciting fiction. She weaves details from her daily life into her work, drawing on everything from campground chores to unexpected wildlife encounters to inform her writing. During the school year, she is a teaching assistant at Whittier Middle School in Poland, Maine. All four Cooper and Packrat Adventures, Mystery on Pine Lake, Mystery of the Eagle’s Nest, Mystery of the Missing Fox and Mystery of the Bear Cub are Junior Library Guild selections. When Tamra isn't writing, she enjoys wildlife watching, hiking, geo-caching, kayaking, power-walking, and snowshoeing. She can often be found (for those who know where to look) hiding under her “cloak of invisibility,” a huge poncho-shaped camouflage cloth that she uses to disguise herself from passing skunks, coyotes, and foxes.

Carl DiRocco is a graduate of the New England School of Art & Design and has illustrated Dear Big, Mean, Ugly Monster (a Minnesota Humanities Book Award Finalist) and Our Principal Promised to Kiss a Pig (a Children's Choice Selection). Carl lives in Reading, Massachusetts, and loves to camp with his wife and three sons.

"The author's love for the forests and wildlife of Maine is evident in every detail of the environs. Readers familiar with the Maine woods will recognize it, while those who aren't will feel like they're visiting for the first time . . . good-old fashioned summer fun with a mystery at the center." —Kirkus Reviews

"These are delightful kids, smart, loyal and respectful, and it’s a pleasure to read about their exciting mystery adventures." —Bill Bushnell, Central Maine Newspapers

". . . An impressively crafted and consistently entertaining read from first page to last—making it unreservedly recommended, especially for elementary school and community library Mystery/Suspense collections."—Midwest Book Review

"Kids can try to solve the mystery, but they are also learning about the environment, endangered species, interesting facts about animals, as well as the challenges kids face in their daily lives with family and friends. It really has it all and is written in such an engaging style. I cannot recommend this series enough. You may want to start at the beginning, but each makes a great stand-alone book!"—Paula Bourque, literacy coach and author of Close Writing