The Murder Mystery of Mattie McDuffie

Fears of nuclear bombs and the excitement of a passionate young president ready to change the world and an activist fighting for their civil rights become background noise when twelve-year-old Marina and Jesika discover the body of Mattie McDuffie. Ignoring the adults' bidding to "just be kids," these two young girls decide to grow up quickly and enlist a few friends to help, only to realize they will have to take a few leaps of faith and logic to solve the murder mystery and be strong in a world where they are judged by the color of their skin. This is the first book in the Bollenbacher Street Mysteries series, in which unexpected plot twists inspire a friendship between science and faith to follow clues, uncover motives, and solve mysteries while two young women wrestle with the challenges of growing up in the 1960s and developing a sense of identity and purpose in a country and world that is struggling to do the same.