Events

In Search of Middle Grade Mysteries

Put your detective caps on for this intriguing panel, featuring middle grade books with a mysterious twist! Shafaq Khan’s Zeyna Lost and Found follows a British-Pakistani aspiring detective in London, whose overactive imagination regularly gets her in trouble because she believes there is mystery and intrigue everywhere… until there is a mystery at the shops. Set in another shop run by a survivor of the Titanic, where Colette secretly works, Nikki Shannon Smith’s Deep Secrets: A Titanic Novel weaves between the Great Depression and a journey aboard the Titanic as Colette uncovers the mystery surrounding her father’s death as a Black factory worker. Tracy Badua adds a hint of magic to the mystery in Thea and the Mischief Makers, a story about a pair of grumpy duwendes—Filipino goblins—who threaten to wreak havoc on Thea’s neighborhood and her chance at a fresh start as the cool girl at Junior Stunt Warrior summer camp! Helping us to moderate this panel and close the case is the knowledgeable Sharon Levin, who has been reviewing children’s and YA literature for over 30 years.

Event date: Saturday, May 30
Event time: 1:30pm-2:15pm
Location: Berkeley Public Library, Teen Room
Audiences: middle grade, Tween and Up
Themes: Fiction, Mystery/Crime/Thrillers, Youthlit
Booksales: Hicklebee’s Bookstore, Inc., on the 1st floor near the Teen room

More about the 2026 Bay Area Book Festival here.