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Students enter science projects in the fair which helps develop the plot. Cam's famous photographic memory is, as always, part of the solution to the mystery. In this book, her science project homemade camera is stolen as is has a clue to solve the mystery. A picture she took along with her photographic memory helps solve the case. First, she must convince the owner of the coin store he has been robbed, as he doesn't even know that is true! After Cam and her friend Eric leave the store, the owner realizes they were correct and call after them to return. Cam always saves the day because of her memory and a few clues. The book is level L. ( )

Fifth-grade sleuth Cam Jansen and her best friend Eric Shelton return in this fifth chapter-book devoted to their mysterious adventures, this time confronting the theft of Cam's science fair project. A homemade camera that she used to take a picture of Eric, together with his sundial project, it is stolen by the very man Cam saw coming out of a coin shop, earlier in the day. It doesn't take long for her to realize that the man may have been behind more than just the theft of her project...

As an adult reader, there really isn't much to Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Gold Coins, as the solution to the puzzle is evident almost before the characters discover anything amiss. That said, I recall reading this series as a young girl - perhaps in the third grade? - and finding it quite engrossing, so younger readers will most likely find it suspenseful. I enjoyed Cam's can-do attitude, and her enthusiastic pursuit of answers, and think that today's beginning chapter-book readers will feel the same. ( )

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