Mystery Book Tastings are a great way to give your students an exciting introduction to books in the mystery genre. Mystery is often one of the most popular genres among students, so this activity has always been a hit.
Book Tastings are a creative way to get students excited about choice reading. In a previous blog post, I detailed exactly how I run a regular tasting. In this post, I’m going to explain how I leveled up my regular lesson to accompany my mystery unit.
With just a few supplies and lots of creativity, it’s easy to transform your classroom into an adventure for the minds of young readers. In this post, I’ll share some tips for creating a successful Mystery Book Tasting that will have your students eager to delve into the titles you provide!
#1: Pick Excellent Books for Your Mystery Book Tasting
In order to run a great book tasting, you have to start with great books. I’m going to give you my top 10 picks for YA mystery below, but I always encourage teachers to collaborate with their media specialists or local YA librarians to curate a collection of perfect picks for your specific students.
Here are some of my favorite mystery novels for teenagers (in no particular order):
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
- Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
- Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
- The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
- Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
- The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson
- Sadie by Courtney Summers
#2: Set the Scene to Enhance Your Mystery Book Tasting
Adding themed props to your book tasting will go a long way in setting the mood. When I did this activity, I actually dug through old Halloween decorations and pulled out anything spooky that might work. Here are just a few ideas of things you can add to make your tasting feel more mysterious:
- Black tablecloths
- Caution tape
- Magnifying glass
- Detective coat/hat
- Toy spiders
- Battery-operated tea light candles
- Play money
#3: Create an Actual Mystery
The best part of running a Mystery Book Tasting was the fact that I included an actual mystery. Students were given “clues” at each table that they had to find as they were circling to each station. I kept it simple and used Clue-game style clues printed on card stock and hid amongst the books. Students acted as detectives as they found the suspect, location, weapon, motive, etc. at each table. If students solved the case, I gave them a piece of candy. (Food is always the best motivation for teenagers, right?)
Okay, We Picked Books! Now What?
After your students are happy with their mystery selections, I highly suggest running a genre-based literature circle. I have a full unit done for you that you can grab in my shop. It includes everything you need to run a mystery choice reading unit. You can run these lessons alongside a mentor text (bonus points if it’s another mystery for compare/contrast opportunities) or as a standalone mini-unit. It works with any set of texts! Click here to check it out.
I hope this post has given you plenty of inspiration to host your own Mystery Book Tasting!
If you do host your own, please share with me on Instagram @samanthainsecondary. I’d love to see what you come up with.
Happy teaching!
