Description:

Come explore the world of mysteries with plenty of "who did it?" twists! You will begin your journey by researching information about the mystery. You will become an Expert Investigator as you study the events and people associated with this crime. Expert Investigator responsibilities will include reading information about the crime, writing scripts concerning the events and characters, re-enacting the event by pretending to be a character at the scene, and solving the mystery! You will prove your level of expertise by deciphering clues, solving puzzles, playing mystery games, and unraveling mysteries throughout the week. Your exploration will conclude with a dramatic re-enactment of the mystery...and yes! parents are invited! Come read, write, think, create, and have fun!

Sample Character Script:

The other night in the library, when many characters were out of their books enjoying a sojourn in the night air, a crime was committed, grim and grave, right in our own library. As a result his Majesty Henry VIII (that famous monarch from the English history books) has disappeared.

athered at this table are the characters who were present in the library at the time of the nasty deed. Fortunately, Master Sherlock Holmes is here to investigate, so the perpetrator of this heinous crime will no doubt be revealed as the week proceeds.

Sample Character Descriptions: (parts will be randomly assigned on the first day of camp)

Master Sherlock Holmes (from Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conlan) I am a man with such superior detective skills that I have become world famous. Nothing goes unnoticed by me.

Alice (from Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll) Wonderland was not my imagination. It was a wonderful dream - a dream filled with strange creatures. I saw a White Rabbit looking at its watch and I followed it down a rabbit hole. I fell down a deep well, but I fell slowly so I had plenty of time to look at the jars of Orange Marmalade and such. I came to a bottle saying Drink Me, but the bottle was not marked poison, so I drank it. I shut up like a telescope till I was only "ten inches high. Then I found a cake marked Eat Me and I ate it and grew very tall. My feet were so far away.

Snow White (from Snow White by The Brothers Grimm) My step-mother was jealous of my beauty and asked a huntsman to do away with me. He took pity on me and let me run away into the forest and I came to the house of the dwarfs. I ate their porridge. They found me later asleep and asked me to stay and take care of them. But I am not a porridge thief like you, Goldilocks. I only took a little from each bowl as I was fainting from hunger. And since then I have kept house for them, so I have repaid my debt to them. My step-mother asked her looking-glass `Who is the fairest of us all?' and it told her I was living in the glen. Then my stepmother plotted to get rid of me. She dressed as an 'old pedlar woman' and sold me some lace for my waist. Then she laced me up so tight, I `lost ... (my) breath, and fell down as dead.' Fortunately, the seven dwarfs soon returned and cut the lace in two, so that I could draw breath. The Queen knew I wasn't dead because her mirror told me so, so she came again with a poisoned apple. The dwarfs thought I was dead. A prince saw me and carried me away. Then the apple fell out of my mouth and I came back to life and we married. King Henry kept trying to get me to marry him, but I refused.

Peter Pan (from Peter and Wendy by Sir James Matthew Barry) I live on an island inhabited by pirates, mermaids, fairies and Indians. On the island there are lots of fairies like Tinkerbell. "When the first baby laughed for the very first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about and that was the beginning of the fairies." I taught the three children of the Darling family to fly so they could return with me to the island. We were trying to stop the evil pirate Captain Hook from going about his wicked ways. Then Captain Hook plotted to do away with me and he captured Wendy Darling, but I was able to save her. There is also a crocodile that follows us about that has a clock inside his belly going tick, tick, tick. King Henry was impressed with my victory over Captain Hook.

Little Red Riding Hood (from Little Red Riding Hood by various authors) I was on the way to visit my Grandmother when I met the wolf. We chatted about how I was visiting my Grandmother and I told him where she lived. Then he left me and I went to my Grandmother's cottage. When I came inside my Grandmother's cottage, I found that she looked very different from her usual self. The Big Bad Wolf locked my Grandmother in the cupboard. So I said to the Wolf who was sitting in bed dressed in my Grandmother's nightgown, 'Why, Granny...what big eyes you have got.' And the wolf said, 'The better to see you with, my child,' imitating her voice. I won't bore you with the rest as you have probably all heard the story. Most versions of the story end happily with my being saved from the wolf's clutches by my father and the woodcutters. King Henry and the Big Bad Wolf had a lot in common. They were both men that little girls should stay away from.

Robin Hood (from Robin Hood by various authors) I am a wealthy man who has been forced to become a thief. I steal from the rich and give to the poor. The poor of England were being asked for too many taxes. The taxes were required to fund various political battles overseas. I simply gave back to the poor the money that they had had unfairly taken away from them in the first place. Little John and I met on a plank across a river. But he would not let me pass. He was a large man. He did not see why he should make way for me and so we did battle. He used his staff, but I was victorious in our skirmish. Afterwards, he came to know me and to be one of my main supporters.

And Many More!