Kids into Books: Mystery Bay

Author: Carol Krueger

Illustrator: Wendy Wray

Publisher: Shortland Publications, $9.85

Age group: 11+ years


We parked our little bug between two late-model cars in the shopping centre car park.

"Be careful when you open the door," warned Mum. "I wouldn't want to have to pay to fix that car!"

Mum carefully locked up, and we walked into the shopping centre.

"I don't know why you bother to lock up up," I said. "No one's going to waste their time stealing it. It's not worth anything!"

"Yeah - but it's worth something to me," said Mum. "It gets us around."

She was right. Our little purple car took us everywhere.

It's hard being in a one-parent family. Dad has seen my brother William and me only three times in the last two years. Mum has to do everything. And we'll never have the kind of things that Alice Parker has. Her dad owns one of the biggest factories in town. They export overseas, and they live in a mansion. But right then I decided to forget about Alice Parker. We were going to buy me a new pair of running shoes.