In nine brief illustrated chapters, readers meet purple-haired, information-loving, eight-year-old investigator-in-training Paige Turner, a self-described Fact Collector whose motto is: "If you can't prove it, it's not a fact!" Recently moved to Evergreen Street, Paige gets to know her new neighborhood ("When arriving in a new place, it is helpful to collect facts to feel at home") by making observations and talking with those she meets. Upon hearing the local legend about a monster on the street, skeptical Paige's fact-meter goes off. Her subsequent assertion about monsters not being real, however, is countered by her young neighbor Penn: "Or...they ARE real! They just have not been discovered yet!" Paige concedes the point and spends the rest of the book, with Penn, trying to gather definitive proof, yea or nay. Lively, varied, digitally colored pencil illustrations fill the pages, including singles, double-page spreads, panels, and more. The main text is easy to read, with notebook entries from Paige's "fact diary" and well-delineated speech bubbles helping to enhance the characters' personalities. Paige's methods are satisfyingly and accessibly scientific, and the mystery is engaging enough to keep readers guessing -- because, as we've learned, "all facts start off as guesses." Elissa Gershowitz

This book is dedicated to "curious Fact Collectors everywhere."When 8-year-old Paige moves onto Evergreen Street, she begins collecting information in her Fact Diary-facts like the "street has exactly seventy-three windows," and an 8-year-old boy named Penn lives next door. A talkative Penn introduces Paige to the "puddle that's shaped like Texas," "a kid with a pet rock," and the undiscovered neighborhood monster. That's when Paige kicks into gear. It's a Fact Collector's "responsibility to tell people when they are wrong. ‘Fact: Monsters are NOT real.' " After Paige records what Penn knows about the monster ("leaves behind footprints…hides in bushes…scary screeches"), the two kids prowl the neighborhood in search of evidence. Through careful observation and deduction, Paige proves there is no monster…until a loud "AROOOO" and a strange shadow make Paige and Penn rethink their conclusion. The text is carried in a combination of Paige's first-person narration and dialogue bubbles. Paige's notebook pages and random fun facts-"wombat's poop is cube-shaped"; the "original name for Uranus was…George"; the "Earth is struck by lightning 100 times per second"-add to the kid appeal. They are interspersed throughout the nine chapters, which are nine to 15 pages in length. Paige has purple hair, blue eyes, and beige skin; Penn has light-brown skin and eyes and a pouf of curly, blue-green hair. Their neighborhood is minimally diverse.Sound detective work, unexpected twists, and plenty of fun for the young mystery fan ready for longer and more chapters. (Graphic mystery. 7-10)