A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

Gr 3-7–Untitled, a painting owned by the Penelope Art Museum, has been stolen, and the only witness is a tortoise. Unfortunately for sixth-grader Rami, the tortoise has gone back underground to wait for warmer days, leaving his mom, who runs the museum’s cleaning crew, under suspicion. With the help of his classmate Veda, Blue (the ghost of the girl from the painting), and eventually the tortoise, Rami must solve the mystery of the missing painting to protect his mom and remind Blue of who she is. Warga employs a fantastic writing style that keeps readers sucked in, even during the simplest of scenes. Every character, tortoise included, is perfectly developed. Apart from the joy of following Rami on his journey to solve the mystery, readers will also discover a beautifully relatable story about the importance of finding the people who see the world the same way you do. Rami is Lebanese and Veda is Indian.