Hidden In Plain Sight

Something was wrong. He looked down into the hole he was digging. He got down on his knees and pushed away the dirt with his bare hands. His hands touched something smooth and curved and there, staring at him from the moist earth was a human skull. Dan had been digging up a skeleton.

Book: Hidden In Plain Sight by Chris Auer, Zondervan Publishers, 2004

Genre: Mystery

Target Audience: Boys 11-14

Subjects: Fear, lying

Summary: A skateboard accident lands Dan in trouble with old Miss Alma Loise Stockton LeMay and he finds him working in her old museum house as a result. While doing a job for her, he digs up an old skeleton leading to instant fame – which isn’t necessarily a good thing. Soon he and his friends begin receiving threats. Dan has to figure out who the culprit is before someone else gets hurt.

Notes: Dan is dealing with a few issues in this book. The first one is fear. His father is overseas in the military and he fears his father never coming home again. The second issue is lying. Rather than face consequences of his choices, he either lies or hides the truth. He also has to learn respect for Miss Alma, as his original attitude is one of disrespect due to her age, position and role of authority figure in his life. It covers the issue of lying and hiding the truth very well. This is the first book in the Mysteries Of The Eckert House series.

Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Ephesians 4:14-15 – Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.