The Curse of the Bully’s Wrath: A Mickey Rangel Mystery/ La maldición de la ira del abusón: Colección Mickey Rangel, detective privado

By René Saldaña Jr.

• ISBN: 978-1-55885-866-4
• Publication Date: May 31, 2018
• Bind: Trade Paperback
• Pages: 64 pages

Fifth-grade detective Mickey Rangel is back on the case in this short, bilingual novel about what drives bullies.

Marco, the new boy in school, is small and “mean as a skunk.” He has no fear. Mickey knows, because he saw the incident with Simón Ortega, a football player who’s a head and a half taller than Marco. The short boy is sly too—even though he started the fight, it’s Simón who ends up in the principal’s office, in trouble for beating up a smaller kid!

Mickey plans to do the right thing and tell the principal what he saw, but the next day Marco threatens him and everyone else if they tell. Because of him, Simón has in-school suspension for two weeks and is off the football team. “Imagine what I can do to you if you stick your fat noses into my business.”

Unable to understand why Marco is so mean, Mickey is even more dumbfounded when Bucho, the school’s resident bully, backs down from the new, short kid. What drives a bully? Mickey wonders. Thus his newest challenge: to turn a bully into a friend, or at the very least, a nicer person. Mickey Rangel, kid detective extraordinaire, is on the case!

In the fifth novel of the Mickey Rangel Mystery series, author and educator René Saldaña, Jr. crafts another entertaining book for intermediate readers about something every school kid can relate to: mean classmates who knock others down to feel better about themselves.

“In Mickey Rangel’s fifth mystery, like many kids his age, the title character is faced with a new kid in class who is less than welcoming. But how do you help someone who doesn’t want to change? It’s a solid resource for younger kids to learn about how best to tackle a bully and how to find your voice and speak up for not only yourself, but those around you. A welcome return to Mickey’s primarily Latinx world.”—Kirkus Reviews

RENÉ SALDAÑA, JR. is the author of four books in the Mickey Rangel Mystery series: A Mystery Bigger than Big / Un misterio más grande que grandísimo (Piñata Books, 2016), The Mystery of the Mischievous Marker / El misterio del malvado marcador (Piñata Books, 2013), The Lemon Tree Caper / La intriga del limonero (Piñata Books, 2011) and The Case of the Pen Gone Missing / El caso de la pluma perdida (Piñata Books, 2009). His books for teens include A Good Long Way (Piñata Books, 2010), The Whole Sky Full of Stars (Random House, 2007) and The Jumping Tree (Delacorte, 2001). He lives in Lubbock, Texas, where he teaches in the College of Education at Texas Tech University.

A Mystery Bigger Than Big: A Mickey Rangel Mystery / Un misterio mas grande que grandisimo: Coleccion Mickey Rangel, Detective Privado

By René Saldaña Jr.

             

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Pinata Books; Bilingual edition (May 30, 2016)
• Language: English/ Spanish
• ISBN-10: 1558858245
• ISBN-13: 978-1558858244

Rumors are flying about Natalia, the new girl in school. She's so quiet that everyone is sure she's hiding something. Was her father a drug lord in Mexico, killed by rival gangs? Or were her parents Russian spies, caught doing what spies do? Maybe she's the sole survivor of a plane crash?!?

Mickey Rangel, detective extraordinaire, knows all of the stories going around are bogus. But when his arch rival, Bucho, challenges him for the answer, Mickey vows to crack the case of the new girl. He'll prove once and for all that he's the real deal, a private detective!

Natalia is peculiar. She's very skinny, and eats her lunch so quickly that Mickey wonders if she got something more appetizing than he did. She never talks, and her shoes and clothing are worn and shabby. But his efforts to discover the girl's secret come up empty, until he overhears a conversation. Is Natalia really one of those undocumented children he has heard about on the news? Did she really travel all the way from Guatemala by herself? Why would she leave her family? And why would her parents let her go?

In this fourth installment of the bilingual Mickey Rangel Mystery series, acclaimed author and educator Rene Saldana, Jr. writes a thought-provoking novel for intermediate readers that explores the contemporary issue of immigration from a young person's perspective. And in this case, Mickey learns some hard truths about being a detective and a good person, ultimately realizing that some mysteries are best left unsolved.

A New A Mickey Rangel Mystery

The Lemon Tree Caper: A Mickey Rangel Mystery / 

La intriga del limonero: Colección Mickey Rangel, detective privado.

By Rene Saldana  Jr. 

Mickey Rangel, kid detective extraordinaire, has just exited the school bus one sweltering afternoon when he hears a blood-curdling shriek. It's coming from the creepy neighbor lady's house. Señorita Andrade, known as La Bruja Andrade to all the neighborhood kids, is as old as the moon, wrinkled like a prune, and smells like moth balls. But she's in trouble, so Mickey forgoes the cool, refreshing glass of lemonade he planned to buy from Tina s stand and instead goes to help the supposed witch.

"My lemons, Mickey, my prize-winning lemons. They're gone. They re all gone," Señorita Andrade cries. The tree was covered with fruit just that morning, but Mickey can see that it s true: there's not one lemon on the tree. She is famous for her lemons. One of the reasons everyone thinks the woman is a witch is because she somehow manages to keep lemons on the tree year round. And for years she has won first prize in the annual Lemon Festival and Lowrider Bicycle Show. In the lemon category that is, not the bikes. 

Who could have removed several sacks full of lemons? Was it only a coincidence that Tina had set up a lemonade stand just down the street? With a bowl full of lemons sitting right out front? Or could it have been someone trying to sabotage Señorita Andrade's entry in the upcoming festival dedicated to the savory fruit? " I'll get to the bottom of this, ma'am. Mickey Rangel is on the case."

In this second bilingual book in The Mickey Rangel Mystery series for intermediate readers, author and educator René Saldaña, Jr. has crafted another engaging book for kids, and his wise-cracking, smart protagonist will appeal to even the most reluctant readers.

About the Author

René Saldañar Jr. is the author of A Good Long Way (Piñata Books, 2010), The Case of the Pen Gone Missing / El caso de la pluma perdida (Piñata Books, 2009), The Whole Sky Full of Stars (Random House, 2007), The Jumping Tree (Delacorte, 2001) and Finding Our Way: Stories (Random House, 2003). He lives in Lubbock, Texas, where he teaches in the College of Education at Texas Tech University.

Don't Miss the First Mystery

Case of the Pen Gone Missing: A Mickey Rangel Mystery / 

El caso de La pluma perdida: Colección Mickey Rangel, detective privado

When Toots Rodríguez approaches Mickey on the playground, he knows something is up. Toots, the prettiest girl in the fifth grade, never talks to Mickey, not even when they’re assigned to work together on a class project. But Toots has come to Mickey because she’s in trouble, and he’s a detective. The real deal. He has a badge and a certificate after completing an online course two years ago.    

“You have to believe me, Mickey. I didn’t take that pen. I didn’t.” When Toots shines her big green eyes on him and insists repeatedly that she’s innocent, Mickey’s intuition tells him to run fast—in the opposite direction. But he’s a sucker for a pretty girl, so he takes on the case of the missing pen.

Rumor has it that Toots stole Eddy’s pen. It’s not just any old pen; it’s his dad’s pen. It has the White House logo on it. Eddy’s father, a senator from South Texas, got the pen from the President of the United States when he visited the White House last year. As Mickey begins his investigation, though, all the clues point to Toots and her newly ex-boyfriend as the primary suspects.

The first book in The Mickey Rangel Mystery series for intermediate readers, author and educator René Saldaña, Jr. has crafted another appealing book for kids, and his wise-cracking, smart protagonist will appeal to even the most reluctant readers.