Capture the Flag by Kate Messner
It all started one night at an event at the Smithsonian. Three kids at the party that
evening who don’t know one another will forever be linked – only they aren’t
aware yet. During the party, the
historical Star Spangled Banner is stolen, an almost incomprehensible
feat. A fluke blizzard strands all
outbound passengers at the Washington airport the next day and that is when the
news story hits – the famous and priceless flag is missing. Budding investigative journalist, Anna,
wants to be the one to break the story.
As the moments unfold, Anna discovers that the two other kids from the
party – Jose and Henry – are also stranded at the airport. And even more surprising is that they
all three share a family secret – links to the underground Silver Jaguar Society, a
group of people who have sworn to protect and maintain many of the world’s art
and historical treasures. Do
Anna, Jose, and Henry have what it takes to solve the mystery and recover the
missing flag?
This mystery is action-filled. It is fast paced and a page-turner. Filled with secret societies, crooked
politicians, suspicious characters, wrongly accused folks, and a group of smart
and brave kids, don’t be surprised if your independent reader is caught staying
up late reading with a flashlight under the covers. Every chapter leaves the reader hanging and just begs to be
turned to the next. And each of
the kids has a strong, unique personality – almost any reader will see some of
himself in one of main characters.
Capture the Flag also fills that critical niche of being a
family read aloud. Family read alouds are tough stories to write because you
need a story that works successfully at several different levels with characters and plots lines that are complex, but not too complex. If you’ve got a wide age-range in your family, this story
will work. It’s not too intense or
complicated that a young listener can’t follow. And at the same time, it’s filled with many twists and turns to
keep middle schoolers engaged.
And looking at this book through an educator’s eye, there are
multiple layers here to sink into.
Kate Messner is a teacher and she has effortlessly infused this book
with numerous themes and topics to discuss and research. This story can extend to government,
election process, dirty politics, orchestras, American history, idioms,
meteorology, airport infrastructure – this book is packed.
Capture the Flag will also slide right into the Common Core
Standards for Language Arts. The
book lends itself to discussions about character perspectives and point of
view. Or pair it up with a nonfiction,
informational text on any number of topics – the history of the Star Spangled
Banner, the election process, government structure to name a few.
Two thumbs up for Capture the Flag.
For further information about all of Kate Messner's books, check out Kate Messner’s webpage. And also take a look at the resource page from Scholastic including the link to the teaching and discussion guide.
Reviewed from an advanced reader copy provided by the
publisher, Scholastic.
