Snake in the Grass

A great book and series for CIVICS EDUCATION

Pairing the allure of Washington DC, with an animal misadventure, "Snake in the Grass" is a robust series mystery novel. —FOREWORD REVIEWS

Fina Mendoza is the 10-year-old daughter of a congressman who solves mysteries in the U.S. Capitol with the help of a big orange dog named Senator Something.

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FINA'S LATEST CASE: Everybody's mad at everybody else on Capitol Hill. Members call each other names on the floor of the House of Representatives. And anybody who dares to work with someone in the other political party is punished. Now somebody's putting snakes in lawmaker gym bags and trash cans. It's up to Fina and Senator Something to find the real snake in the grass.

TEACHERS, LIBRARIANS, and HOMESCHOOLERS: The Fina Mendoza Mysteries series of books, podcasts, teacher's guides, and "Facts Behind the Fiction" blog/newsletter provide a multidisciplinary approach to civics education for elementary school readers. As our amateur detective solves mysteries on Capitol Hill, Fina learns about American democracy, the electoral process and legislative branch along with your students. Take them deeper into Common Core knowledge with standards-based instruction through the series' multimedia sources!

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This third book in the series is more than a mystery story!

It's THE WEST WING meets NANCY DREW.

Available soon in Spanish! Look for Serpiente en la Hierba by Kitty Felde, translated by Jorge Flores González.

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FREE DOWNLOADABLE TEACHER'S GUIDE AVAILABLE:

—Build reading skills while teaching integrated lessons in:

• ELA, social studies, and history designed for grades 3-5 Common Core Standards
• NCSS curriculum standards, C3 Social Studies Readiness
• California Public Schools' History-Social Science content standards.

—Promote deeper learning through:

• active engagement
• reading comprehension
• content knowledge
• creative and analytical thinking

—Designed for elementary school teachers, librarians, parents, homeschoolers, scout leaders, and other community educators.

INTERACTIVE COMPONENTS & FREE MULTIMEDIA SOURCES:

• Helps address students' diverse learning needs.
• Supports the use of technology in the classroom.
• Dramatic podcast based on the books and current events.
• Facts Behind the Fiction blog and newsletter offer historical and civics context for the books and podcast.

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Introduce civics to your students with "The Fina Mendoza Mysteries" series!

THE FINA MENDOZA MYSTERIES SERIES:
Book 1 — Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza
Book 2 — State of the Union: A Fina Mendoza Mystery
Book 3 — Snake in the Grass
Book 4 — Home of the Brave (coming Spring 2026)

Novella — Losing is Democratic: How to Talk to Kids About January 6th

Podcast — The Fina Mendoza Mysteries

ALSO AVAILABLE IN SPANISH:
Libro 1 — Bienvenidos a Washington de Fina Mendoza
Libro 2 — Estado de la Unión: Un misterio de Fina Mendoza
Libro 3 — Serpiente en la hierba (Otoño de 2025)
Libro 4 — La casa de los valientes (Otoño de 2026)

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For fans of:
The Secret Lake
Greenglass House
The Mysterious Benedict Society
National Park Mystery Series

And classic books and detective series like:
The Westing Game
The Boxcar Children
Encyclopedia Brown
The Virginia Mysteries
Hardy Boys

Award-winning writer, public radio journalist, and TEDx speaker Kitty Felde hosts the Book Club for Kids podcast. With more than 1.4 million downloads, the show has been named one of the top 10 kidcasts in the world by The Times of London.

Kitty has a remarkable talent for talking to kids and she shared her super power in a TEDx UCLA talk.

The native Angeleno created the Washington bureau for Southern California Public Radio, reporting on Congress. She's covered everything from war crimes trials to OJ Simpson to baseball, and hosted a daily talk show in Los Angeles for nearly a decade. Kitty had a front row seat at one of the January 6th Committee hearings.

She won the Los Angeles Radio Journalist of the Year award three times in three years from the Society of Professional Journalists and the L.A. Press Club. As a journalist, Kitty explained how government works to grownups. Now she explains it to kids in a series of mystery novels and podcasts called The Fina Mendoza Mysteries. She also writes the companion blog Facts Behind the Fiction, available on the Chesapeake Press website (www.chesapeakepress.org).

Find Kitty at www.kittyfelde.com and @kittyfelde.