Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball by David A. Adler

     I recently read the short story "Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball" by David A. Adler. It is about Cam Jansen, a child with photographic (eidetic) memory who helps solve petty crimes like items being stolen. In this book, she solves a crime where a child steals a baseball that was signed by Babe Ruth that was owned by an old man who is very sad because it was signed just for him. The protagonist, Cam Jansen, eventually finds the baseball. Some obstacles that she has to overcome are that no one but Eric, her best friend, believes her that someone stole the ball, and that the boy outsmarts them by replacing the ball with one that two children were playing catch with when they went to check his baseball for the signature, and then replaced it after they left. But the story resolves itself at the end, when Cam Jansen shows off her eidetic memory at a hobby show.

     I believe that the story resolved itself the way it did because it deserved a happy ending. I don't think that there would be a book in the Cam Jansen series where she doesn't solve the mystery by the end. If there was, then the general audience of the book (children) would feel sad and not want to read the Cam Jansen series anymore, because they know that Cam Jansen always solves the mysteries.

     I don't really have an opinion on the ending. I knew who it was from the moment they saw him, because there were pretty blatant hints throughout the entire story. I feel that if it was someone else, then the story would be more interesting. Then again, that would seem weird and be too complex for younger readers to understand.

     I feel like this story doesn't really teach much about life, because only children with eidetic memory could relate to Cam Jansen. I think it was really made solely for entertainment, and no reason other than that.