The Spore Hunters Club

Some secrets grow in the dark. When twelve-year-old Wren Callahan finds a ring of blood-red toadstools circling her family's old cabin, the local naturalist warns her not to touch them: "Beautiful and deadly, Wren. That's the first rule of the woods." But when Wren's little brother goes missing in Hollow Wood the very same night the ring appears, the rules stop mattering. Wren and her ragtag friends - awkward fact-obsessed Percy, fearless trailblazer Dez, and quiet, sharp-eyed Mabel - form a secret club with one mission: learn the forest's oldest, deadliest language. Mushroom by mushroom, they must tell the harmless from the deadly, the edible from the poisonous, and the natural from the impossible. Guided by a reclusive retired mycologist with secrets of her own, the four friends track fungal clues through fairy rings, rotting logs, and moonlit meadows, uncovering a hidden grove, a decades-old vanishing, and a truth buried since the town's founding. As the mushrooms grow stranger and the danger grows real, one wrong identification could cost someone their life. A gripping middle-grade mystery adventure for kids ages 9-12 that blends forest survival, foraging, citizen science, and old-fashioned detective work with real mycology facts about mushrooms, toadstools, spores, and the fungal kingdom. Perfect for young readers who love outdoor adventure stories, nature mysteries, STEM-based fiction, friendship-driven quests, and spooky-but-safe suspense - think Goosebumps meets a nature field guide, with a beating heart of courage, curiosity, and family.