Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery

Cam Jansen, the fifth-grader with a photographic memory and a penchant for solving crimes, returns in this twenty-fourth chapter-book devoted to her adventures. When three computers go missing from their classroom one snowy day, Cam and her best friend Eric swing into gear, determined to catch the thieves...

As I mentioned in my review of the previous installment of this series, Cam Jansen and the Tennis Trophy Mystery, I tend to find the earlier Cam Jansen books more engaging than the later ones. This is owing, no doubt, to some nostalgia, as I have fond memories of reading those earlier Cam Jansen books when I was in primary school. That said, I also think that author David A. Adler's choice to set his earlier stories outside of school show more hours may have been a factor, as I struggle to suspend my disbelief, when it comes to the permissive attitude of Cam and Eric's teachers and school principle, when it comes to them running around school during class time, questioning staff and conducting their investigations. This unlikely scenario struck me in the previous book, and it struck me here, in Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery. Of course, it's entirely possible that this will not be a stumbling block for young readers, who may accept the premise with no question. Leaving that aside, although there isn't much to this one, I would still recommend it to fans of the character and her adventures, and to beginning chapter-book readers who enjoy mysteries. show less

My first of the series, found in a Little Free Library. Won't be my last. I'm an Encyclopedia Brown fan, and this scratched a similar itch.

Jennifer Jansen has a photographic memory, so her friends call her “Cam” because it is as if she is taking pictures of things she sees with a “mental camera”. Thanks to that gift, Cam solves a lot of mysteries. In this book, it is a snowy day, and when Cam’s class arrives in their computer classroom, Cam, her friend Eric and funny boy Danny see that their computers are missing. They were stolen, and Cam and Eric jump in to help the police solve the case. Footprints in the snow and a closed class window are the clues they start with.

I am not familiar with the Cam Jansen series, but I was fairly disappointed by this particular installment. The story takes place in a school setting, which kids are familiar with, but I did not show more find it very realistic that Cam and her friend Eric can leave their classroom practically as they wish (they leave it three times within the same morning) under the pretext of working on solving the mystery. Of course, the fact that children are solving the mystery all by themselves is in itself not very believable. Also, I found the portrayal of the characters rather shallow. We do not know much about Cam other than the fact that she says “Click!”, and blinks her eyes when she takes a mental picture. The fact that she would do that seems a bit ridiculous. However, I imagine this could be appealing to kids, and it makes it clear for them when she is using her photographic memory. Eric’s role is reduced to being Cam’s sidekick, and it seems to me that his only purpose is so that Cam can voice her thoughts to someone. Also, the insistence on Danny boring everyone with his jokes as well as continually having the same classmate mad at him for them is annoying in itself. The jokes he tells are not that bad, and young children will probably find them funny, but the continuing insistence on how much he bugs everyone with them kind of ruined his character for me. Ages 7-10 (or younger if read aloud). show less

Jennifer “Cam” Jansen is known amongst her friends for her photographic memory and for saying ‘click’ like a camera whenever she wants to remember a scene. She uses her photographic memory to solve mysteries such as the one found in this book. On this snowy day, three computers have disappeared from her school’s computer lab. Can Cam and her friends help the police figure out who stole the computers? This basic chapter book is an excellent choice for young readers with its short chapters, school setting, simple plot, and basic vocabulary. Black and white sketch type illustrations appear throughout the book and at the back of the book is a memory game utilizing the illustrations. While this is not the best book in the Cam show more Jansen series, kids should find trying to solve the mystery of the stolen computers alongside Cam to be engaging and entertaining. show less

This is a decent example of realistic fiction. I don't think a lot of students actually find themselves solving mysteries (before the police) about missing computers, but it is a fun story and it is set in present day. The characters are realistic, and there is no sign of fantasy or anything like that, so I would classify it as realistic fiction.
Cam Jansen is a round, static character. We find out a lot about her from the narration and her dialogues with her friend and teacher. We learn about her photographic memory and her intuition. However, she really doesn't change throughout the story. She was helpful, smart, and friendly in the beginning and all throughout the story. There was very little change.
Age Appropriateness- Primary, show more Intermediate
Media- Pencil show less

I'm kind of tepid on this series, which I thought I'd really enjoy before reading it. I was expecting something of the caliber of Encyclopedia Brown. This story of Amber solving a mystery of stolen computers left me a little bored. Students might like it, because it's easy to follow the clues and try to guess who the culprit is.

This is a good example of an early chapter book becasue the chapters are only several pages long and the language is fairly basic. The plot is easily identifiable for young readers with the beginning scene set up at the school, a conflict when the computers are stolen, and at the end for the resolution, Cam solves the mystery.