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Raven Hill Mysteries #5
Beware the Gingerbread House
Sunny has always been terrified of the Gingerbread House, a peculiar pastry shop with a giant cage for trapping naughty children. Now she's been asked to lend the place a helping hand!
The rest of the Help-for-Hire crew quickly agrees with Sunny, as soon as they discover a not-so-sweet surprise: Somebody's putting dead things in the tasty treats.
And the team's fractured fairy tale is only just beginning. . . .Sunny and her friends have to act fast. Nobody wants the Gingerbread House to crumble - not if Help-for-Hire will take the blame.
The rest of the Help-for-Hire crew quickly agrees with Sunny, as soon as they discover a not-so-sweet surprise: Somebody's putting dead things in the tasty treats.
And the team's fractured fairy tale is only just beginning. . . .Sunny and her friends have to act fast. Nobody wants the Gingerbread House to crumble - not if Help-for-Hire will take the blame.
115 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
4 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Emily Rodda
312books2,060followersEmily Rodda (real name Jennifer Rowe) was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1973 with an MA (Hons) in English Literature. Moving into a publishing career, first as a book editor, and finally as a publisher at Angus & Robertson, Rodda's first book was published in 1984.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 29, 2015
I'm really loving this series. This one got really emotional at the end. I love Emily Rodda's writing and these are just perfect Middle Grade mysteries.
...but I'm really confused. The copy I have says on the cover that this is #3 in the Raven Hill Mysteries series. And my copy says the name of the group is Help for Hire, not Teen Power. Am I living in some sort of alternate dimension? Did something go weird in the American editions? I don't understand!
...but I'm really confused. The copy I have says on the cover that this is #3 in the Raven Hill Mysteries series. And my copy says the name of the group is Help for Hire, not Teen Power. Am I living in some sort of alternate dimension? Did something go weird in the American editions? I don't understand!
December 3, 2014
When I was nineteen
February 5, 2019
Even though I've been looking for years, I've never managed to track down all 30 of the Teen Power Inc series. I really hope at some point these are released in ebook format. Or reprinted as paperbacks. I'm not really fussed but I would definitely like to read all of them in some format. Still over the years I've read a great many of them and have recently been rereading the ones I have. (And scouring auctions and used bookstores for missing copies.)
Anyway Teen Power Inc is brilliant. They're lighthearted mysteries featuring a cast of six teenagers who start their own odd job business to earn money. Each book is narrated by a different character. There's Liz who is the mother hen. She is passionate about equality and fairness and helping others. Her best friend is Sunny who is super sporty. She spends a lot of her time exercising and attending taekwondo and gymnastic classes. Tom is the class clown of the group, always ready with a joke and his sketchpad. Elmo is the reporter. He joins the group in the first novel, when the gang accept a job as the new delivery people for the Pen (the local newspaper) that Elmo's father owns. Nick is described as being "cool". He's always ready with the right words and the charm. And last of all is Richelle who is the fashionista and kind of an airhead. Each book focuses on the adventures and mysteries the group fall into when they start a new job.
Beware of the Gingerbread House follows Sunny. Sunny is the jock of the group - she's always exercising, going to the gym or taking Taekwondo classes. Sunny lives with her mother and four sisters. Her parents are still married but her dad is a professional tennis player turned coach and he spends most of his time abroad. In this novel, we see how much this affects Sunny and strains her relationship with him. Sunny's best friend is Liz, although she seems to get on well with all the gang.
Sunny is the level headed and calm one of the group. She never panics but always looks at the situation logically and remains level headed. In the first book (The Ghost of Raven Hill) Liz and Sunny are trapped in a burning office building - but while Liz freaks out, Sunny comes up with a solution, keeps Liz distracted and gets them both out.
So it's a surprise then to find that Sunny is not as calm as she appears when it comes to Hansel and Gretel - a fairytale that has always creeped her out. Although reluctant, Sunny agrees to work at the local bakery - dressed as rabbits and handing out flyers. The bakery is beset by problems from the beginning and Sunny finds herself even more on edge when her dad returns for a visit and decides she should leave Raven Hill and tour with him as a professional athlete.
Although tempted, Sunny decides she's better off in Raven Hill with her family and friends, which is good because the gang soon find themselves deep in trouble and need Sunny to save the day.
It's a cross between middle grade and young adult whatever you call that. Sunny is not exactly my favourite character so this wasn't my favourite book. The mystery was interesting though if not predictable and I liked the fairy tale elements. For my own personal rating I'd give this two stars. Maybe 2.5. But it's not actually bad and I've no doubt the target age group would rate this 3 stars - ergo 3 stars.
Anyway Teen Power Inc is brilliant. They're lighthearted mysteries featuring a cast of six teenagers who start their own odd job business to earn money. Each book is narrated by a different character. There's Liz who is the mother hen. She is passionate about equality and fairness and helping others. Her best friend is Sunny who is super sporty. She spends a lot of her time exercising and attending taekwondo and gymnastic classes. Tom is the class clown of the group, always ready with a joke and his sketchpad. Elmo is the reporter. He joins the group in the first novel, when the gang accept a job as the new delivery people for the Pen (the local newspaper) that Elmo's father owns. Nick is described as being "cool". He's always ready with the right words and the charm. And last of all is Richelle who is the fashionista and kind of an airhead. Each book focuses on the adventures and mysteries the group fall into when they start a new job.
Beware of the Gingerbread House follows Sunny. Sunny is the jock of the group - she's always exercising, going to the gym or taking Taekwondo classes. Sunny lives with her mother and four sisters. Her parents are still married but her dad is a professional tennis player turned coach and he spends most of his time abroad. In this novel, we see how much this affects Sunny and strains her relationship with him. Sunny's best friend is Liz, although she seems to get on well with all the gang.
Sunny is the level headed and calm one of the group. She never panics but always looks at the situation logically and remains level headed. In the first book (The Ghost of Raven Hill) Liz and Sunny are trapped in a burning office building - but while Liz freaks out, Sunny comes up with a solution, keeps Liz distracted and gets them both out.
So it's a surprise then to find that Sunny is not as calm as she appears when it comes to Hansel and Gretel - a fairytale that has always creeped her out. Although reluctant, Sunny agrees to work at the local bakery - dressed as rabbits and handing out flyers. The bakery is beset by problems from the beginning and Sunny finds herself even more on edge when her dad returns for a visit and decides she should leave Raven Hill and tour with him as a professional athlete.
Although tempted, Sunny decides she's better off in Raven Hill with her family and friends, which is good because the gang soon find themselves deep in trouble and need Sunny to save the day.
It's a cross between middle grade and young adult whatever you call that. Sunny is not exactly my favourite character so this wasn't my favourite book. The mystery was interesting though if not predictable and I liked the fairy tale elements. For my own personal rating I'd give this two stars. Maybe 2.5. But it's not actually bad and I've no doubt the target age group would rate this 3 stars - ergo 3 stars.
December 30, 2017
This book series is always a fun read, unfortunately just super difficult to find. I have 25 of the 30 books and my mum and I have been looking for years. We always keep an eye out for them cause they are such good books and by one of my favourite authors no less. I would recommend them to anyone who can find them, cute mystery novels that surprised me when I read them for the first time. Now they are an old series I return to often when I want something fresh to read or to take on a roadtrip (I don't like to allow my big books to get damaged). Anyway, this specific book was from Sunny's perspective and I love Sunny, she is probably my favourite character. Of course, due to the amount of times I have read the book, I found it hard to get back into, every word is so familiar that my eyes just run over the pages but I do enjoy the nostalgia that comes with it so no real complaints.
December 25, 2021
Terrifying to think that I've owned this copy of the book since 1994. The price tag's gone, but I have a vague memory of paying out $10 pocket money at the (very small) book section of the town's music shop.
Rereading it after all this time, I can remember why I loved it, but - for me - this story just hasn't held up to the passage of time. I'll pass it along to my 7-year-old niece, and hopefully, she'll be able to find in it some of the magic I've lost.
Rereading it after all this time, I can remember why I loved it, but - for me - this story just hasn't held up to the passage of time. I'll pass it along to my 7-year-old niece, and hopefully, she'll be able to find in it some of the magic I've lost.
January 21, 2023
Sunny's Dad is back in town, and the gang work handing out pamphlets for a bakery. The whole shop gives Sunny the creeps and she would rather be shot of the whole thing.
The Work Demons are about, trying to sabotage everything.
This is the gang doing what they do best, and it works. Sunny's background is explored. The story is well balanced between the action and Sunny trying to make sense of her home life.
The Work Demons are about, trying to sabotage everything.
This is the gang doing what they do best, and it works. Sunny's background is explored. The story is well balanced between the action and Sunny trying to make sense of her home life.
August 22, 2020
Book 5 in the series as my Rodda-athon continue and this is book #38 by Rodda which I have to work out manually because well you know no most read authors etc.
December 23, 2013
Another great instalment in the Teen Power series, this one narrated by Sunny Chen. Teen Power get a job at the 'Gingerbread House' bakery in the Raven Hill mall. The gang are all excited, except for Sunny. Since she was a child she has had a strange fear of the Gingerbread House and its witchy owner, Hazel Sweet. She doesn't want to have to explain this to the others though, so she joins in on the job. The Teen Power kids have to deal with their rivals, the Work Demons, who compete with them for jobs, and have deliberately sabotaged places that have chosen Teen Power on previous jobs.
The mystery element of the story comes in the former of a famous criminal the gang see in the mall. 'The Wolf' is a famous criminal the police have never managed to pin a crime on, though they know he's guilty as hell. What's he up to at the mall, and why is it that Sunny is so scared of Hazel Sweet and her gingerbread-house shop?
The mystery element of the story comes in the former of a famous criminal the gang see in the mall. 'The Wolf' is a famous criminal the police have never managed to pin a crime on, though they know he's guilty as hell. What's he up to at the mall, and why is it that Sunny is so scared of Hazel Sweet and her gingerbread-house shop?
December 29, 2015
Another enjoyable installment in this series.
Sunny was my favourite narrator growing up, although this may have been a biased opinion as she happens to be the narrator of my favourite ever book in the series (which I'm really looking forward to re-reading).
This is an enjoyable mystery that I don't think is quite as an obviously solvable as some of the other mysteries in the series.
Can't wait to continue re-reading this series.
Sunny was my favourite narrator growing up, although this may have been a biased opinion as she happens to be the narrator of my favourite ever book in the series (which I'm really looking forward to re-reading).
This is an enjoyable mystery that I don't think is quite as an obviously solvable as some of the other mysteries in the series.
Can't wait to continue re-reading this series.
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January 19, 2015Book 1 of #UnderHypedReads and my School Books Project complete. Still thinking about a rating... Thoughts to follow.
January 26, 2015
I actually really enjoyed this story. It was clever and utterly engaging.
December 10, 2023
Ah we're back to attempted murder.
Villains abound in this installment, and Sunny has a refreshing voice, and a bit of PTSD from her dad leaving.
The visual image of the gang as bunnies is 🔥
Villains abound in this installment, and Sunny has a refreshing voice, and a bit of PTSD from her dad leaving.
The visual image of the gang as bunnies is 🔥
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
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