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Middle Grade Sidekick Super Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall (2024) by Jasmine Warga
The Basics
Page Length: 224
Audiobook Length: ~3.5 hours
Grade Reading Level: 4+
Target Audience Age: 8-12+
Goodreads Score: 3.82 out of 5
Buy it HERE
Setting: Contemporary fictional art museum
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery
Topics: Friendship, Art, Family, Belonging, Theft, Ghosts, Teen Sleuths, Turtles, Teamwork
Plot: Rami Ahmed is feeling invisible, especially at school. His two best friends have suddenly ghosted him, and he has no idea what went wrong. Sixth grade is turning out to be a lot harder than he expected, but Rami doesn't want to worry his mom with his problems when she's already dealing with a big one of her own.
His mom works at the Penelope, a popular art museum, and recently, there's been a theft. It's all anyone can talk about! A famous painting has disappeared, the security footage has been wiped, and Rami's mom is a suspect. Rami HAS to figure out what happened to the missing painting and clear his mom's name.
But when he starts investigating, things get weird. He's been seeing a floating girl wandering around the museum, and even stranger, she looks exactly like the girl in the missing painting. The tricky part? She doesn't know who she is! Rami adds her identity to his growing list of mysteries. Along the way, he teams up with a new friend, encounters a curious turtle, and crosses paths with a rather intimidating security guard.
Can Rami solve the mystery of the missing painting, uncover the identity of the floating girl, and clear his mom's name? Rami has his work cut out for him!
Themes: Art as a form of connection, empathy, memory and identity, courage in uncertainty, feeling invisible vs. feeling seen, first impressions
You might like this book if you like:
Art
Visiting Museums
Ghosts/Folklore
Solving puzzles and riddles
Books like: The Frame-Up, The Lost Library, Trouble at the Tangerine, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, When You Reach Me
Shows like: Secrets of Sulphur Springs, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Gravity Falls
Movies like: Night at the Museum, Hugo, The House with a Clock in Its Walls, Coco
Other books written by this author: My Heart and Other Black Holes, Other Words for Home, A Rover's Story, The Shape of Thunder, The Unlikely Tale of Chase and Finnegan
Teaching A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall in Class
Content
Language: None
Sex/Romance: None
Violence/Scariness: There is a ghost character in the story, but she is friendly rather than scary. Nothing frightening or spooky happens surrounding her.
Drinking/Smoking/Drugs: None
Class Novel-ability:
I think this could be a possible class novel contender! It has relatable middle school dilemmas, a mystery, and a short-and-sweet story with some great themes that I think students would enjoy. The only downside is that I found it a bit slow at times. However, I think it has plenty of class-wide appeal! With girl characters, a boy protagonist, ghosts, and animals, there's a little something for everyone. I would definitely recommend this to mystery-loving students and add it to my list of potential book club picks!
The Star Qualities
This book is short, sweet, and easy for reluctant readers to get through. If you have students who struggle to stick with a book long enough to finish it, this could be a great option for them! Since it's a mystery, there's an added incentive to keep reading and find out how everything unfolds. Plus, it's short—even the audiobook is only a few hours long! I'd keep this one on my list for students who need an attainable reading goal and a little encouragement to build their reading stamina.
This book has pictures! There pictures of the characters, of the art, and of the museum. They are fun and cute and very helpful for imagining the story!
This author has SO many other great books! She writes for both middle grade and young adult audiences, and her books explore important, relevant themes like school shootings, suicide, immigration, and grief. Some are written in verse, others from the perspective of animals, and she even has a science fiction story told from the POV of a robot! She has such an incredible range, and there's so much to learn from each of her books.
I love the central theme of this book. The protagonist is navigating friendship troubles in sixth grade, something that's highly relatable to middle school students. He feels invisible and struggles to find meaningful connections. Interestingly, the adults in the story and the mystery itself revolve around similar themes. I love the message that friendship and connection are powerful. Being seen and understood is important. It's something we all need, and it's part of what makes us human.
Book Talk Read Aloud Section
If you have the physical book, read chapter one (p.1-2)
If you don't, read the same pages (location 72-82) in the reading sample here.
"Reading Like a Writer" Mentor Texts
This little passage has some cool things going on! Paragraph breaks. Repetition. Internal dialogue. Parenthetical asides. Short, choppy sentences. All these craft moves work together to create a dramatic moment and add touches of humor to the writing.
I like this passage! It's a great example of writing a daydream. There's lots of repetition, but it's varied repetition, so it doesn't feel too repetitive or predictable. I also love how the author uses Rami's daydreams to reveal his character and what he really wants. And the ending is very effective! After all that imagining, the final sentence is short, direct, and full of determination.
I love the storytelling format of this passage! It starts with a fairy-tale-style opening and uses parallel structure to create a rhythm that feels like a story being passed down. It also includes short, dramatic sentence fragments, a conversational parenthetical aside, and delayed details that keep readers curious until the very end. There are so many great craft moves here for students to experiment with in their own writing!
Sentences for Combining and Imitation
Sentence sets for combining:
"Her hair had that static-shock quality, puffing out around her, like it was raising its hand, waiting to be called on." (A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall, p. 5)
Her hair had that static-shock quality.
It was puffing out around her.
It was like it was raising its hand.
It was like it was waiting to be called on.
"At first, he found only things he expected–her sketch pad, several used charcoal pencils, books about birds and robots and aliens."(p. 24)
At first he found only things he expected.
He found her sketch pad.
He found several used charcoal pencils.
He found books about birds.
He found books about robots.
He found books about aliens.
"Veda and Rami shifted through the crowd–families with kids who seemed like they wanted to be anywhere other than here and families with kids who were bursting with excitement, old couples and young couples, and people who had the harried but also satisfied look of someone who’d traveled a long distance to be here." (p. 75)
Veda and Rami shifted through the crowd
There were families with kids who seemed like they wanted to be anywhere other than here.
There were families with kids who were bursting with excitement.
There were old couples.
There were young couples.
There were people who had that harried but also satisfied look of someone who'd traveled a long distance to be here.
Sentences for Imitation:
"It is a singular feeling to be understood. Seen. Connected. It is the best feeling in the whole world." (p. 88)
"Art, she understood, was a wish that you made with your hands." (p. 51)
"Rami jumped and then tried to pretend like he hadn’t. (He wasn’t fooling anyone.)" (p. 11)
"And then the painting was stolen, and Rami felt more uncomfortable admitting that (a) he'd been snooping around in her stuff and (b) he'd taken the Photo. (p. 25)
Used this book in your classroom? Tell us how in the comments!
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