The Video Game Bandit (1) (Hardy Boys Clue Book)

A cute updated series of the classic collection. My 8 year old is a big fan of deductive reasoning so this stimulated his curious mind. We will buy more in the series.

Another great book that my 4th grader loves. I wish they were longer for him but I guess he will have to get more of them.

My grandson read this book in one day. He loved the story line, and it brought back memories of my younger days reading Hardy Boys books over and over.

We all know who the Hardy Boys are, and we've all seen the original Hardy Boys books - both the original pre-War versions and the revised and modernized reissues from around the 60's. But, there have been many more series since then, all of them, of course, written by "Franklin W. Dixon". This particular volume is the latest variation on the Boys' adventures. It's worth summarizing which series is which because there is a great deal of difference in the target reader demos, and the accompanying complexity and violence, for each series. (I've borrowed freely from a number of internet sources to draft this summary and I think it's generally correct.)Starting in 1979 we began to get 131 more "traditional" Hardy Boys Mysteries that followed on the original 59 books. That series continued to 2005 and followed the original Hardy Boys style. From 1997 to 2000 we got "The Clues Brothers" for elementary school readers. They were simplistic and pretty bad and the series was retired early. "Undercover Brothers" ran from 2005 to 2012 and featured older Hardy Boys involved in more realistic and violent crimes. They are narrated in the first person. They have since been rebooted as "The Hardy Boys Adventures" and that series is still running. (There's also something called the "Casefiles", which is also for older readers.)Which brings us to this book. From 2010 to 2015 we have 19 volumes of "The Hardy Boys Secret Files", which feature the Hardy Boys as grade school detectives. That series has now been rebooted as "The Hardy Boys Clue Book". This "Clue Book" series features the same younger Hardy Boys, but adds an interactive element by inviting the reader to detect along with the Boys. "The Video Game Bandit" is the first book in this brand new series. So, what do we think of it?"Video Game Bandit" is better written, better plotted, and generally more engaging than the very lame "Clues Brothers" series. So, if, like me, you were dismayed after picking up one of those books, don't despair. "Video Game Bandit" is still aimed at younger readers, and the crime, (here, a fancy gaming system is stolen from a charity auction), is fairly straightforward, but it is all around a better and more entertaining reading experience.The mystery isn't very demanding and there aren't too many clues, but the hallmark of Hardy adventures always seemed to me to be the interactions the boys have with each other and with the various witnesses and suspects. More care is invested in trying to create distinct secondary characters and in scene setting, and this strikes me as a virtue in the sense that younger readers get to read an actual balanced work of fiction instead of a bare procedural like you get with Encyclopedia Brown.So, don't despair if you tried "The Clues Brothers". This is a decent early reader entry in the Hardy Boys canon, and struck me as worth a try.Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-54-days Adobe ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.

These were able to help turn a boy from wanting to use a device at night to reading in bed before sleep. Huge success

Great for 6-8 year olds, boy or girl. Fun and easy to read

My 7 yo son read this all in one evening. He said he just couldn't put it down until the mystery was solved. He really enjoyed it, and I've already ordered the next 4 books in the series.

The book looks like it will be a fun read for my 8 year old (fingers crossed it holds his attention and interest) but the book came damaged which is disappointing since it was supposed to be a Christmas present.