Lark Goes the Distance

Author Natasha Deen provides young mystery lovers with another exciting story, Lark Goes the Distance”, the seventh title in the “Orca Echoes and Lark Ba Detective” series. Lark and her twin brother Connor are excited about helping to set up for the Run in the Sun fund raiser for the animal shelter. Their friend Kate will be running in the race the next day. Upon arriving at the main tent, they discover that the storm from the night before has left branches all along the route. Fortunately, with the other volunteers, they should still be able to clear the course for the race. And then another problem arises. Kate’s heirloom watch from her grandma has been taken from her container in the participant’s tent and a note was left. It read that, if Kate wants the watch returned, she must drop out of the race.

As in the other Lark Ba stories, Lark, Connor and their friends begin their detective work. Finding a motive, looking for witnesses and culprits, clearing up red herrings and deductive thinking result in solving another mystery. Young readers can make personal connections throughout the story. The inclusion of themes such as working together, being aware of another person’s feelings and how to communicate your own feelings can lead to discussions about the book.

Lark Goes the Distance includes a variety of characters: Lark’s Halmoni (Korean for ‘grandmother’), Connor, adults in the community and Lark’s friends. This large list of characters might be confusing for a first-time reader of this series. References to the friends’ relationships in this story become clearer if the reader has met them in the previous books.

The flow of the narrative with its personal flavour, together with the large, humorous black and white illustrations by Marcus Cutler, provides a positive reading experience for the emergent reader. The inclusion of Lark’s crossed out spelling attempts, how she deals with her dyslexia, and her fascination with words creates a realistic and funny character. The section at the end of the book, “The Words Lark Loves”, explains some of the words and idioms readers might find puzzling. Young readers will enjoy this engaging early chapter book.