Margins
Goofballs book cover 1
Goofballs book cover 2
Goofballs book cover 3
Goofballs
Series · 6 books · 2012-2014

Books in series

The Crazy Case of Missing Thunder book cover
#1

The Crazy Case of Missing Thunder

2012

";Everyone wants to be a Goofball in this little town, and readers will want to follow their cases in the future. That #1 on the spine ensures that there will be many more adventures from these goofy friends."; €”Kirkus Reviews ";Targeting readers who like a lot of humor with their mysteries, Abbott includes a great deal of wordplay and slapstick, and stretches the goofball joke to its limit (Jeff’s dog even barks, ";Goof! Goof!";). Madden’s cartoons add to the fun, and Abbott’s clipped, dialogue-driven text is accessible for beginning readers and creates just the hint of a noir atmosphere."; €”Publishers Weekly ";The plot moves along quickly from clue to clue, enabling readers to test their own powers of deduction... Bold black, white, and gray illustrations appear on almost every spread. Illustrations also suggest the multiracial make-up of the Goofballs. The humor consists o
The Startling Story of the Stolen Statue book cover
#2

The Startling Story of the Stolen Statue

2012

Fans of Dav Pilkey's The Adventures of Ook and Glook and Patricia Reilly Giff's ZigZag Kids will flock to this chapter-book mystery series full of slapstick humor and silly situations by the wildly popular Tony Abbott, author of the Secrets of Droon series. The Goofballs Jeff, Brian, Mara and Kelly, haven't had a mystery to solve in a while, so they help decorate for the 100th Anniversary of Badger Point school celebration. The new statue of the first principal is being unveiled at the party but the statue has disappeared. With clues like a skateboard in a piano, a broken pencil, a scrap of paper that smells like chlorine, and a climbing rope hung differently than the others, the Goofballs solve their goofiest mystery yet.
Superhero Silliness book cover
#3

Superhero Silliness

2012

Fans of Dav Pilkey's The Adventures of Ook and Glook and Patricia Reilly Giff's ZigZag Kids will flock to this chapter-book mystery series full of slapstick humor and silly situations by the wildly popular Tony Abbott, author of the Secrets of Droon series. Jeff, Mara, Brian, and Kelly are Goofballs and proud of it. Goofball private eyes. Together, they solve mysteries. How do they discover the truth? They use funny disguises (dressing up in aluminum foil), nutty inventions (dropped notes the bad guys must stop to read), and their secret Sparky the Goofdog! When super-rich kid Randall Crandall asks the Goofballs to help him protect his world-famous collection from a notorious thief, they can’t wait to get started. Randall’s hosting a superhero party, and the detectives will have to blend in to sniff out the criminal. Crazy costumes and off-the-wall schemes mean this is going to be the Goofballs' goofiest mystery yet.
The Mysterious Talent Show Mystery book cover
#4

The Mysterious Talent Show Mystery

2013

Fans of Dav Pilkey's The Adventures of Ook and Glook and Patricia Reilly Giff's ZigZag Kids will flock to this chapter-book mystery series full of slapstick humor and silly situations by the wildly popular Tony Abbott, author of the Secrets of Droon series. The Badger Point School is holding a talent show, and the Goofballs - sleuths Jeff Bunter, Mara Lubin, Kelly Smitts, and Brian Rooney - are set to be its stars. That is if the show even happens, with problems and mysteries at every turn. A giant pink tuba goes missing, the costumes are all the wrong size, and the talent show's director disappears before the cast's eyes. Good thing that the Goofballs are expert detectives. Funny, punny, and full of fun, this latest case in the Goofballs series will be eagerly devoured by old and new fans, alike.
The Ha-Ha-Haunting of Hyde House book cover
#5

The Ha-Ha-Haunting of Hyde House

2013

Fans of Dav Pilkey's The Adventure of Ook and Gluke and Patricia Reilly Giff's ZigZag Kids series will flock to this chapter book series full of slapstick humor and silly situations by the wildly popular Tony Abbott, author of The Secrets of Droon Series. When the Goofballs—Jeff, Brian, Mara, and Kelly—hear about a house that might be haunted, where someone disappeared years before, it sounds like the perfect case for them to solve on Halloween. But they'll need their best sleuthing skills and, of course, the help of the Goofdog, because this may be their silliest—and scariest—mystery yet.
The Crazy Classroom Caper book cover
#6

The Crazy Classroom Caper

2014

Fans of Dav Pilkey's The Adventures of Ook and Glook and Patricia Reilly Giff's ZigZag Kids will flock to this chapter-book mystery series full of slapstick humor and silly situations by the wildly popular Tony Abbott, author of the Secrets of Droon series. Jeff, Mara, Brian, and Kelly are Goofballs and proud of it. Goofball private eyes. Together, they solve mysteries. How do they discover the truth? They use funny disguises, nutty inventions, and their secret Sparky the Goofdog! Objects have been disappearing from Ms. Becker's kindergarten classroom - blocks, an easel, even the class goldfish! Luckily, the Goofballs are ready to go undercover to help their former teacher learn the truth. But posing as teachers is hard work, especially when the entire class may be as smart as Kelly, as observant as Jeff, as creative as Mara, and as goofy as Brian. Everyone's a suspect, and every time the Goofballs turn their backs, something else vanishes. Soon, the whole classroom will be gone! Have the Goofballs been out-goofed? These young sleuths have never failed so solve a case, and they don't intend to start now!

Author

Tony Abbott
Tony Abbott
Author · 86 books

Tony Abbott (born 1952) is an American author of children's books. His most popular work is the book series The Secrets of Droon, which includes over 40 books. He has sold over 12 million copies of his books and they have been translated into several other languages, including Italian, Spanish, Korean, French, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, and Russian. He has also written the bestseller Firegirl. Abbott was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1952. His father was a university professor and had an extensive library of books which became one of Abbott's first sources of literature. When he was eight years old, his family moved to Connecticut where he went through elementary school and high school. Abbott attended the University of Connecticut, and after studying both music and psychology, decided to study English and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He attended the workshops of Patricia Reilly Giff to further develop his writing after college. Abbott currently lives in Trumbull, Connecticut, with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs. Tony had one brother and two sisters.

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved