Sam Swann's Movie Mysteries: Tomb of Doom!!!
Tanya Landman
Walker Books Ltd
ISBN 9781406330878
Sam's dad - a 'Special Effects Make-up Supremo' - is off to film in Egypt. Before joining him on location, Sam encounters a 'Sinister Stranger' whilst on a fact finding mission to The British Museum. Once in Egypt, Sam befriends the demanding child star Tinkerbelle Cherry. Her mysterious illness leads them to discover the 'Sinister Stranger' and Anubis, the ghostly guard dog of Tutankhamun's tomb, seems to be following them. This is a brilliant book; I was not at all surprised to discover the author is a mother of boys as it is definitely geared towards them. Although it is a chapter book, it also includes elements of graphic novels, information texts and play scripts. Each chapter is named after a real film which the main character - Sam - has given a rating (the ratings are listed at the front of the book). The appendix at the end gives a brief synopsis of each of them. Indeed, every aspect of the book, including the 'credits' on the back cover, are in the style of a film; these are lovely, subtle details. The book is written in first person present tense and includes some fascinating factoids about real films. It reads like pattern of speech, making it very accessible for emergent and struggling readers. The illustrations (by Daniel Hunt) are doodle like and very much in the style you would imagine Sam to draw. Although this book easy to read, it is also a brilliant mystery story - it took me quite a while to work it out! There is a fantastic twist near the end and, although it is clear something is afoot, I only realised what it was moments before reading it. My 7 year old son (an avid reader and rather eccentric film buff) thought this was a fantastic book; that is praise indeed! 169 pages / Ages 7-11 / Reviewed by Mikeala Morgans, teacher.