Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew

Scream for Ice Cream 

Author:  Carolyn Keene                   

Illustrator: Macky Pamintuna 

Date Published: 2008 

About the book: The mystery book written by Carolyn Keene is the second book in the Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew series. The book is written for children between the ages of 6 to 9 years old. 

Summary: Nancy and her friends think there is nothing more fun than ice cream in the summer. So when they find out that the owners of the local ice-cream factory Jim and Barry are hosting a contest, the Clue Crew can't wait to enter! Contestants must come up with brand-new flavors. And they can use whatever ingredients they want! Nancy is sure that her entry - Clue Berry - will win. But when a friend's secret recipe goes missing, Nancy suspects that someone not-so-sweet is up to no good. 

Genre: I consider the genre of this book to be contemporary realistic fiction. "Contemporary realistic fiction is set in modern times with events, settings, and characters that could occur in the real world. Author creates characters, plots, and settings, that stay withing the realm of possibility, and many readers respond to these stories as if the characters were actual people." (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.17) Businesses in the food industry have contest all the time. For example, the company that makes Lays Potato Chips is always having contest for new flavors. Therefore, the ice-cream contest is something realistic and modern. The book is also about three friends working together to win the contest and helping a friend to locate a missing recipe. Although the characters and events are all fictitious, these are all acts and behavior that real people do and display. These are the facts upon which I based my decision that this book is a contemporary realistic fiction literature.
  

Illustration:

    

The illustration of this book seems to be done with graphite, pencils and possibly pens- using varying tones and shades. The technique of the illustration is drawing. This book is a chapter book. Hence, it does not have plenty of illustrations. The style of arts depicts representational art which consist of literal, realistic depiction of characters, objects, and events. Although the illustrations in the body of the book is graphite and pencils, the cover of the book was done with bright, contrasting saturated colors that gives life to the book and beckon to readers. I think this was a wise move on the illustrator's part. The illustration of the book complements the chapters and it's content very well and the illustrator did a wonderful job with the elements of visual arts. 

Motivational Activity:  

Activity 1:                                              We Scream for Ice Cream 

• After reading the story, teacher and students will use the ice-cream recipe and instruction in the back of the book to make their own favorite flavors of ice-cream. 

Activity 2:                                                   General Discussion

• After reading the book, teacher and students will have a general discussion about the book. Some questions that will be asked and addressed are; 

1. What is your personal opinion about the book? 
2. What is the genre of the book? What evidence/s do you have to support it? (older students) 
3. Who was your favorite character and why?
4. What did you not like about the book and why?
5. What connections can you make with the book?
6. What do you think about the illustration?
7. What do you think about the book in general?
8. What are some text features you noted in the book? 

Personal Opinion: I do like this book although I think that the illustrations could have been more since the book is geared towards readers ages 6 to 9. I love that the book is easy to read and I believe children will find it very interesting as they follow the group of friends on their quest to win the contest and locate the missing recipe. Another feature of the book that made me gravitate towards it was the text features. This book have a table of content, titles and subtitles, and pictures to aid children in reading and understanding. I love that the author included the easy to make ice-cream recipe and instruction that anyone can use- especially teachers in their classroom with limited resources. 

Other books by the Author:

• The Secret of the Old Clock.

• The Mystery at Lilac Lane. 

• The Hidden Staircase. 

•  Nancy Drew Diaries. 

References: 

Keene, C., & Pamintuan, M. (2008). Nancy Drew and the clue crew: Scream for Ice Cream. Edina, MN: Spotlight.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2010). Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.