Eddie Red Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile by Marcia Wells is a 4-6th grade juvenile fiction novel about a smart kid who teams up with the police to catch art thieves.
Sixth grader Edmund, aka Eddie Red, has a photographic memory and some really great art skills, which makes him the perfect tool for the NYPD to use to catch a renowned group of art thieves called the Picasso Gang. But not everyone is as thrilled as Eddie is to be working with the police.
As Eddie continues to work the case, he and his genius best friend dig themselves in deeper and may find themselves in a whole lot of trouble.
Discussion Questions:
What is this book about? What are the main themes?
Where do you think Edmund got his code name “Eddie Red” from?
Edmund has a photographic memory. What advantages or disadvantages might there be to having such a memory?
It takes three things to solve a police investigation according to Edmund. What are they and how does he use them to solve the Mystery on Museum Mile?
Edmund is a pretty relatable character. What character traits does Edmund have that you might relate to?
What are your personal stakeout must haves?
What do you notice first when you meet someone? What disguise might you use to make yourself unrecognizable.
Detective Bovano isn’t a fan of Edmund working for the police. Why do you think this is so? And how might Edmund try to get on Bovano’s good side?
At the end of the novel, Edmund seems to have gained a new sense of self confidence and helps his friend deal with a bully. How do you deal with bullies?
Is there anything you would change about this novel? Anything too predictable? Any loose ends?
STEM Activity: “Non-Newtonian Fluid” experiment
Supplies: Plastic Tupperware tub big enough to put your two hands in; corn starch; water
How To:
Add corn starch to your plastic container. Keep track of how much you add.
Add 1 part water to 2 parts corn startch. I.e. if you added 2 cups of corn startch, you would add 1 cup of water.
Stir the mixture until it forms a thick mass that is no longer powdery.
Very slowly, stick your hand in the mixture. Notice that your hand comes back wet and powdery. Clean your hand off.
Now quickly hit, slap, knead, the mixture. Your hand should not go through the mass. You could run on it, hit it with a hammer and if you do it quickly enough, you should remain on the surface of the mass and not go under it.
The Science:
“Non-Newtonian liquids do not obey the laws of ordinary liquids. They change their density and viscosity under the impact of physical force.” The starch particles bond with the liquid forming “chaotically interlaced molecules.” At a higher “shear” or impact rate, the tight bonds do not let the molecules separate, staying more of a solid. At a lower “shear” or impact rate, the bonds loosen and the molecules act more like a liquid. Non-Newtonian liquids do not obey the normal laws of physics. You can find out more about this experiment at MELS Chemistry.
Sources:
How’d it go:
Oh man, what a frazzled book club! Somehow the link to my Zoom meeting was broken and here I am sitting there thinking no one would come and then a colleague tells me the link is broken. So quickly emailed the crew and changed the link and by then I was a mess. We had a very speedy discussion, a small group and a messy, messy experiment. *Sigh* It was bound to happen.
That’s all for now!
-M-