Synopsis: Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose are in class. Mrs. Eagle asks Dink to pass papers to the class to start their math quiz. As Dink passes the paper to Josh, he gets a paper cut and goes to see Miss Shotsky, the school nurse. While he gets a band aid for his finger, Dink notices Mr. Bones, the skeleton missing in the nurse's office. Miss Shotsky is also surprised to notice it missing as she said Mr. Bones was there that morning when she arrived to school. Soon, Mr. Dillon, the school principal makes an announcement in the gym about the missing school skeleton, and offers tickets to the new aquarium as a reward to the class that solves the mystery of the missing skeleton.
Later, as the kids pass the nurse's office, Miss Shotsky invites Dink to give him more band aids. In the office, Ruth Rose notices a footprint left in the dust where the skeleton should have been. They decide to draw the footprint and take measurements, and come to the conclusion that it belongs to one of the adults working in school. Will they be successful in tracking down who took the skeleton, especially after Josh gets a clue to where the skeleton could be located?
Review: I enjoyed reading this book. I found it interesting, suspenseful and funny at the same time and for a while even I had to guess as to why someone would take a school skeleton, but as I was halfway through the book, I figured it would be the kind of situation it turned out to be, but nevertheless it was still fun to read.
I enjoyed how the author placed different clues in the book, such as the footprints and the keys for the reader to figure out who could have taken the skeleton and why. It was also nice to read the details the author provided in showing how the kids solve the mystery in an organized way, such as noting down the details, making a detailed list of the suspects etc.
The illustrations by John Steven Gurney also add well to the book, and I especially liked the ones where Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose find the first footprint at the nurse's office, or when Josh traces Mr. Diodato's feet to check the footprint.
Overall, this is another good addition to the A-Z Mysteries, maybe even better than a lot of the other books in the series, and will be enjoyed by any young reader who likes to read light hearted mysteries.