Inquiry Exercise #9

“I am looking for the historical fiction book about a small town girl who becomes a murder suspect. I think she is 12.”

The title of the book that I found that fits this description is Dovey Coe by Frances O’Roark Dowell. The description of the book from Kirkus Reviews can be found here. I think this is the book because it is a historical fiction book with a young female protagonist who is accused of murdering a boy in her small town. I began by using NoveList through the Milner Library website. I searched for “small town girl” and “female murder suspect” which led me to some other possible titles. As I was searching, I started jotting down questions related to the books I was finding:

“Is this a book you’ve read before?” ; “How did you hear about this book?” ; “Do you know where the story takes place?” ; and “Do you remember anything else about the story?”

I thought these questions might help jog the students memory, or if someone had recommended it to them, I might be able to speak to that person (staff or another student) about the book.

The preliminary titles I was coming up with were Mister Death’s Blue-Eyed Girls by Mary Downing Hahn, which was in a small town in 1956, but it was two girls who were murdered and a boy was suspected; Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage, and although it takes place in a small town, the girl is not the suspect, she tries to solve the mystery; and finally, With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo, but this only loosely fit the description.

In the meantime, I had e-mailed my colleagues in my district media centers and gave them the description of the assignment and of the book. One of the media center directors asked if I had anymore information and I told her I didn’t, and then one sent me the title and author of a book she thought would fit the description. When we met for a meeting later, I asked her how she remembered it and she said that it stuck in her mind because she was worried it would be too high for her elementary students because it was on the Rebecca Caudill list, so she read the book to make sure. After reading the description, I agreed with her.

I would rate this exercise a 4, if it hadn’t been for my stroke of luck with my colleague, I’m not sure I would have been able to pinpoint this title given just that description.