O Say! Can You See?

Ranking up there in the top five favorite inside or outside games, at least with my students, is Capture the Flag.  Strategy, speed, and quick thinking on your feet contribute to one team being victorious over another.  Some team members enjoy guarding the flag, tagging those who would try to steal it.  Others relish the opportunity to sneak in, grab it and spirit away undetected, well, at least for awhile.

In her first book of a new series, author, Kate Messner has expanded the boundaries of the intended playing field.  Beginning in the Smithsonian Museum of American History, then to the Washington DC airport and eventually to the state of Vermont, Capture the Flag (Scholastic) is no game.  This high stakes heist has the nation's capital under high alert.

They never should have unlocked the door.

That first line is like the finger needed to gently push, setting a domino effect in motion.  As a gala event to celebrate the restoration of the flag which inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star Spangled Banner is drawing to a close, one final group of dignitaries is taken to see this artifact.  Three seventh grade students, although strangers, are seated together on a bench close to Washington's statue, waiting for busy adults to complete their parts in the evening's activities.  Little do this girl and the two guys know, their lives are about to be connected in more ones than one.

Anna Revere-Hobbs, daughter of a TV news anchor and United States senator, had hoped to get more of a scoop for her Vermont school newspaper.  Proud of the work his mother, a textile scientist, has done on the flag, Jose McGilligan nevertheless goes back to reading his well-loved copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire anticipating the evening's end.  Having to spend time with his Aunt Lucinda while his dad is on his honeymoon with his new stepmother is not game-playing Henry Thorn's idea of a good time.

Later while these three and the rest of the evening's attendees are soundly sleeping, a hidden figure in the flag's chamber methodically folds the aged fabric, places it in a case and walks away with no one the wiser.  As circumstances would have it, the three meet again at the Washington DC airport the next morning, stranded, as are many, due to a freak snowstorm.  It is with shock they and others there hear the news of the flag's disappearance.

In short order Anna's nose for news and observations skills, piece together two important points.  The three of them have close family who are members of a secret society pledged to protect priceless world antiquities.  Second, and most critical, the stolen flag and the thieves are likely stuck in the airport too.

As the trio join forces, each with their unique skills, clues start to pile up as quickly as the snow falling outside.  Innocent people are being held as suspects, a man with a snake tattoo is stalking a presidential candidate, and their new young friend, Sinan, has disappeared.  Determination and a need to help those in trouble lead them into an off-limits arena; a room of conveyor belts, high ceilings and thousands of pieces of luggage and bags.

Nearly frantic, trying not to panic, each of them summon all their courage to do what they believe is right.  Time is not their friend nor are those who will do anything to keep their plot from being exposed.  A dangerous game of cat and mouse ensues with the outcome for our characters held in a tenuous balance as they literally speed to the conclusion.


Kate Messner's talent as a writer is her ability to hook readers with an intricately developed plot, peopled with likable characters of varying personalities and backgrounds and despicable villains, non-stop adventure, intriguing bits of history, and set among places of interest.  Each chapter ends with a sentence, thought or statement that moves readers eagerly into the next chapter.  Her descriptions of the minute by minute action are downright nail-biters.

Between her characters the dialogue is completely realistic, evoking an emotional response in the reader.  As the action progresses more of her characters' traits are revealed.  We readers get to see what really makes them tick depending on the situation.

Here are a couple sample passages.

The man counted to one thousand.  One thousand shallow breaths from behind the table.  His knees creaked when he finally stood.
He stepped forward and slipped one hand under the edge of the table until he felt the first cold metal clamp that secured the flag, on its protective backing, to the display table.
Slowly, he turned the clamp until he felt its cool weight drop into his palm.

"My responsibility is to knock out these bank robbers." Henry picked up his SuperGamePrism-5000 again. "Otherwise, I can't get to Level Ten."
Jose looked at Henry, poking at his GamePrism, and shook his head at Anna. "Sorry, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I agree with him." He took out his book.
Anna threw her hands in the air. "You are such...boys! What is wrong with you? You spend your whole lives looking for excitement in video games and movies and books, and then when something big finally happens, you're too busy reading and poking at some SuperGameThingy to do the real, live, exciting thing right there in front of you!"


Kate Messner's Capture the Flag captures the reader's attention on page one weaving, twisting, turning and racing toward the final sentence; a sentence filled with the assurance of more excitement to come.  The second book in the Silver Jaguar Society series is slated for publication in the spring of 2013 bearing the title, Hide and Seek.  Raise your hand if you can hardly wait!


The link embedded in Kate Messner's name above takes you to her website.  This link is to her author interview about this title.  At the Scholastic web site is a link to the accompanying teaching and discussion guide.  Kate Messner has provided a Pinterest board for Capture the Flag linked here.  This final link is to the Smithsonian website for The Star Spangled Banner.

A Little Bit of Mystery, A Little Bit of Magic and a Whole Lot of Life

When beginning a new book, there's something particularly attractive about being introduced to a character, within the first two pages (a prologue), who among other things, is a teller of tales.  When the story they tell is so compelling a listener becomes fearful, readers, like that listener, might be prone to the same thoughts as one of the main characters.

Sensing my fear, Joe would say, "It's only a story, Naomi, only a story." He suggested that I say to myself, "I'm not in the story, I'm not in the story"--a refrain I could repeat so that I would feel less anxious.
And so each time the poor man would reach into the donkey's ears, I would tell myself, I'm not in the story, I'm not in the story, but it didn't help because a story was only interesting if I was in the story.

And that, as is said, is the crux of the matter.

For a book to be good, so good the characters, events, setting, and how they are shaped and pieced together into a powerful whole stays with a reader, the whole must bring you into the story.  An author who has consistently perfected this art is Sharon Creech.  Creech was the recipient of the Newbery Award in 1995 for Walk Two Moons, the Newbery Honor in 2001 for The Wanderer and the 2002 Carnegie Medal for Ruby Holler. 

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of The Great Unexpected which is scheduled to be released on September 4, 2012.  With every turn of page you fall more deeply under the spell of Creech's writing.  Before you know it, you are living with the people making their home in a town named Blackbird Tree.

When she was only three Naomi Deane, a foster child, began living with Joe and Nula; her father having died trying to save her from a vicious dog attack.  A mere two days after she was born her mother had died.  Naomi's best friend, Lizzie Scatterding, has been living with the Cupwrights as a foster child for the past two years.

All is oddly normal in their community; the gossipy gatherings at Tebop's General Store, the Dimmenses and the dogs on Black Dog Night Hill, Witch Wiggins who may or may not have out-of-this-world powers, Crazy Cora who abhors visitors of any kind, Mrs. Mudkin from the Ladies Society at church spreading goodwill, Mr. Canner living on memories and one-armed Mr. Farley lost in the past.  All this sense of sameness changes when a body falls out of a tree on top of Naomi and the Dingle Dangle man comes to this particular spot in the universe.  Yes, indeed, things are not at all what they appear to be.

On the other side of the ocean two women, Mrs. Kavanagh and Miss Pilpenny are plotting a revenge and enjoying a healthy dose of murder each night.  The long arm of these two will be felt in a great unexpected way.  How fairy circles, rooks in twos, a love of dogs, ghosts, and a crooked bridge all meld with these delightfully, distinctive people toward the miraculous, marvelous conclusion will have you wondering if you should clap your hands and dance, sigh and quietly smile or as a single tear rolls down your cheek you should begin to read it all over again.

As I was reading The Great Unexpected I continually held this picture in my mind of Sharon Creech sitting at a table with pieces of a puzzle spread before her.  All these pieces were her creation; phrases that roll off your tongue, lines of language bringing forth an instant sense of place or detailed dialogue or thoughts giving insight into the core of a character's personality.  She with the practiced hand of a master having honed her gift moving them, fitting all the pieces into place.  And we, lucky readers every one, getting to enjoy and savor the beauty of this book.

Here are some samples of her writing from this title.

Joe, my guardian and a man of few words, once said about Lizzie, "That girl could talk the ears off a cornfield."

A tangle of twine on Joe's workbench reminded me of a time when I was maybe five or six and had taken a ball of twine and wound it all through the chicken yard, so the chickens would have little "rooms" of their own, and Nula came out in the near dark and tripped over the twine rooms and broke her wrist when she fell.
She didn't yell.  She didn't scold. All she said to me was, "Rooms for chickens?"

Both Nula and I were stunned into silence.
"I just cannot believe this, Naomi.  It's like--it's like--the universe spun us together on purpose."
"Yes," Nula said quietly, "It does seem that way, doesn't it?"

When Sharon Creech writes, threads of people's lives are woven together with her words; words speaking of family, friendship, love and forgiveness.  In The Great Unexpected time and distance can be bridged.  In The Great Unexpected readers are surrounded by story, an unforgettable story filled with magical moments. 

Thank you Sharon Creech for this book.  This view from the moon is splendid. Lar-de-dar

Links embedded in her name will take you to her website and blog.

Taking A Bite Out of the Big Apple

My single visit to New York City more than twenty years ago was a whirlwind tour.  Trying to find a hotel room we could afford, grooving to a concert at Madison Square Gardens, enjoying a Broadway musical, shopping in the markets along the waterfront, walking in Central Park and watching the people, you could spend days just watching all the people, it all now seems like an unbelievable dream to a gal who grew up in a small town outside of Lansing, Michigan.  With that being said, the latest title by John J. Bonk, Madhattan Mystery, is like being back in the city; the overwhelming hubbub, the news, the landmarks, the summer heat, all through the eyes of three tweens smack dab in the middle of it all.

The McGill siblings are being sent to City Camp so their Dad and his new wife can take a long honeymoon in Europe; their own mother having died two years earlier.  No sooner do twelve-year-old Lexi and her ten-year-old brother, Kevin, arrive at Grand Central Station, receive a warm welcome from their quirky, loveable, actress Aunt Roz then Lexi, standing in The Whispering Gallery outside a restaurant, overhears two men planning what could only be a very costly crime.  She's willing to dismiss the entire conversation until the newspaper headlines the next morning announce the theft of jewels en route from the Cairo Museum on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the upcoming "Queen of the Nile" exhibit.  City Camp orientation gets out earlier than expected so their new smart, sassy "friend" Kim Ling Levine, daughter of the owners of their aunt's apartment building, leads them on an excursion to Central Park.

Catching another news flash on a biker's radio while at the park, declaring the posting of an excessive reward, Lexi decides against all her instincts to tell Kim Ling what she heard.  Kim Ling, grooming herself for a career in investigative journalism, is on that like bees drawn to honey.  In a race against time the three join forces to try to piece together the bits and pieces of words from the exchange between the two men.

Throw the FBI , the NYPD, a runaway teen, the tunnels beneath Grand Central Station and a nighttime excursion to Central Park into the mix and you have a whirlwind adventure that can't be beat.  Using courage, intelligence and taking risks beyond their capabilities Lexi, Kevin and Kim Ling are on a roller coaster ride of events.  Taking more twists and turns than a cab in the city the storyline speeds toward an ending filled with surprises right up to the very last page.

What sets this narrative above others in this genre is the vitality in the writing of John J. Bonk.  I found myself laughing out loud and marking passages for their true voice, humor and detail.  Each of the three main characters are lively, wise in their own ways with frailties and flaws; Lexi, sensible, superstitious and haunted by the past, Kevin, fearful, optimistic and innocent and Kim Ling, a walking dictionary, brimming with intelligence and too sharp-tongued for her own good.

While this is most definitely a whopping good mystery, it is also about forging friendships with opposites, blended families and dealing with loss.  Weaving the flashbacks within the story was touchingly brilliant.  The varied richness of the supporting characters, tenants in the building, people on the street, city employees and the City Camp personnel, truly enhances the tale.

Here are some samples of Bonk's writing from the story.

The first ten minutes in the cab were like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Kevin was red-faced and white-knuckled clinging to the armrest. 

He wore a toothy smile and plaid shorts with droopy black socks, putting the eek in geek.

"Okay, tell me, why're we following her again?" Lexi asked Kevin.
"You got me.  But she does crack me up."
Lexi shook her head in wonder.  "She's like the Pied Piper of Manhattan---with road rage."

Madhattan Mystery penned by John J. Bonk is as fast-paced, spirited and filled with a mixture of personalities as the city in which it is set.  One of the best reads of 2012, it ranks as one of my all time favorite mysteries.  Be sure to visit Bonk's website linked to his name above as well as a guest post at John Schumacher's Watch. Connect. Read. and an interview more recently at The O. W. L.

Listen...Can You Hear?

Early this past Sunday morning, awake again at 1:30 a.m., I closed the covers of a book I could not believe was over.  The well-wrought characters placed in harrowing, unusual and mysterious circumstances bound this reader to them as only the best of stories can.  A novel inspired by The Secret Garden, The Humming Room (Feiwel and Friends), by Ellen Potter will undoubtedly bring new readers to the earlier title and have others going back for a second reading but on its own--brilliant.

Let's begin at the beginning.

There are no road signs to mark the tiny village of Limpette.  It lies between two towns that you have never heard of.  If you pass Ostrander's goat farm, you've gone too far.

We won't stay long in Limpette.  There's not much of anything here for us, except the girl. And the girl was not much of anything either, not back then.  Her name was Roo Fenshaw and she was too small for her age.

It's a good thing Roo is small for her age; giving her the ability to stay hidden in the smallest of places.  In the silent space beneath her trailer house she listens to the policemen examining the murder scene, overhears the conversation with the neighbor and discovers she is to be taken to live with an uncle she did not know she had, her father's brother.  Tragedy's heavy hand is scooping up twelve-year-old Roo.

Efficient Ms. Valentine whisks Roo away to Cough Rock Island, one of many such islands in the St. Lawrence River.  Her uncle, Emmett Fenshaw, a private, eccentric man, has purchased an abandoned children's hospital used to treat those with tuberculosis, as his home.  Within hours of her arrival the mysteries of which no one speaks, a strange humming and piercing screams, fill the air.

No nonsense but sympathetic Violet, an islander working for Roo's uncle, speaks to her of the legendary Yellow Girl, a ghost, and the Faigne, looking human but not quite, a creature of the water.  Before too long Mrs. Wixton, her newly acquired tutor attempts to suffocate Roo's new sense of belonging and freedom on the island.  Hiding from Mrs. Wixton within her secret cave by the river, she meets Jack, who eerily resembles the Faigne in appearance and in his skills on and around the waterway.

Further explorations along silent, twisting hallways, up and down staircases, through doorways rarely used and a sudden plunge along the death chute, lead Roo to discover she has a cousin, Phillip, and yes, there is a garden, a enclosed, glass-domed garden.  Lack of all life permeates every nook and cranny of the space, the very air itself.  Yet it calls to Roo; calling for her help.

So many questions without answers are centered on the garden.  Initially it draws Roo and Jack together working daily to bring forth any form of greenness despite both sensing, seeing, a vague shadowy form by a large boulder.  Within time Phillip, Violet, Ms. Valentine and eventually Emmett Fenshaw are drawn by circumstances into its confines.

Atmosphere thick with foreboding generated by her father's murder, the island's rocky isolation, the mansion whose empty rooms echo with lives lost, the sudden mysterious death of Ana, her uncle's wife and Phillip's mother, superstitions of the island's natives and the enigma of Jack drives the storyline forward.  Plot details tightly interwoven create a seamless fictional fabric patterned with timeless life-defining qualities, resilience, love, family, friendship, and loyalty.  Rich characterizations, primary and secondary, revealed by dialogue shine.

Squinting through the curtain of rain, she watched the shadowy form on the roof.  Suddenly, the wind changed directions, as though someone had summoned it.  It drove into her face so violently that it felt like an assault, forcing her to run.  Roo refused.  She turned her back to the wind, twisting her head to keep her eyes on the boy.  The river grew frantic, crashing against the island's banks.

"No, Roo.  It's not really a good place for anyone."
"You stay," Roo accused.
"I'm paid to stay.  I have three little sisters back on Donkey and a mom who's raising them on her own.  I need this job.  And I'm needed here. You're not."
Roo thought of the garden, of the freshly cleared earth, bare now but full of possibilities.
I am needed here, she thought.
"Come on," Violet said.  She walked over to Roo and took her hand, squeezing it once. "Let's go inside and get this over with.  Ms. Valentine will be so relieved to see you she might forget to tear you into bits and feed you to the gulls."

Several other points are worth mentioning.  Roo's father, however far he may have strayed, is fondly remembered; his stories' roots found among the islands.  Acting as guides Roo's black squirrel and Jack's heron, further cement their connection to nature; she to the earth and he to the water, each listening, hearing and understanding.

Ellen Potter has penned a novel so easy to visualize, a movie in your mind to replay over and over.  Beautifully, haunting The Humming Room tells of the spring that follows the winter in her characters' lives gently growing from their hearts as the plants rise from the soil in the garden.  Without a doubt, multiple copies will be needed.

Hip-Hopping Sleuths

Madeline, has just set foot on Hornby Island, after taking two ferries, island to island, from her school on Vancouver Island.  All the other children on Hornby are homeschooled but that's not Madeline's style.  Madeline, self-reliant, responsible, sensible, watches over her parents, Flo and Mildred (Harry and Denise), leftovers, along with most of the residents on the island, from the hippy era. 

Not too long ago she got a job at the Happy Goat Cafe bringing in extra money, actually the only reliable income the family has, but to her dismay it's usually used in the pursuit of such activities as the annual festival of Luminara; residents making luminaries to welcome the summer solstice.  This year she could really use the money for a pair of white shoes.  She is to be honored with three awards at her fifth grade graduation with Prince Charles, yes, the Prince Charles, in attendance.

But these problems pale in comparison to her nearly being run over by a car with lots of red eyes peering out of darkened windows with a fox? driving, then arriving home to discover that her parents have been kidnapped; held until they disclose her Uncle Runyon's address.  Uncle Runyon is a translator of code living on Vancouver Island; more normal than her parents but a bit of an academic "looney tune".  Before he can offer any solid assistance, he falls into a desired coma.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-Detectives Extraordinaire! by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath and illustrated by Sophie Blackall (Schwartz & Wade Books, Random House) is the story of two rabbits finding Madeline under a blanket wondering what's real and what's not and what to do.  Mr. and Mrs. Bunny have recently moved into a darling small cottage near Uncle Runyon's manor; leaving a home much too large after their twelve children have left the nest, so to speak.  Out of the blue Mrs. Bunny suggests they become detectives; Mr. Bunny giving up his job on the carrot marketing board and she giving up her collecting lint to create art.
Wearing new fedoras (that makes them detectives more than a license) Madeline hires them; after all what is a girl, with a big bottom as Mr. Bunny states without any tact, to do?

What can only be described as wacky mayhem follows.  Mr. Bunny's driving skills leaving much to be desired, even if he is wearing Mrs. Bunny's twelve-inch purple sequined platform shoes to reach the pedals, using The Marmot, a garlic bread lover, to decode the file card, the only clue found at the scene of the crime, convincing the Bunny Council that Madeline is a pet to avoid jail, relentless questioning of Flo and Mildred by the ruthless head fox, Grand Poobah, riding recklessly with Mrs. Treaclebunny on her scooter and pushing the Panic Button, all add up to one laughable moment after another. 

Translator Polly Horvath brings readers into the realm of mysterious fantasy with endless action matched by even wittier dialogue and suppositions by her characters; imaginings of conversations and the thought processes of the rabbits, foxes and marmots is top notch to a T.  Contrasting feet-firmly-on-the-ground Madeline with her head-in-the-clouds parents couldn't be better.  Highly detailed descriptions of the life style of the animal world, a near perfect mirror of ours, increase the hilarity.

"Yes, yes, we've covered that," said Madeline impatiently.
"Well, how do we find out where The Marmot lives, then?"

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny looked at each other.
"We thought all children knew how to find things," said Mr. Bunny.
"Google," said Mrs. Bunny.

"I didn't know you could Google marmots, " said Madeline.

"You can Google anything, dear," said Mrs. Bunny patronizingly.  "I just learned how to use the computer this year.  Mr. Bunny taught me."
"And I'm never teaching you anything again," said Mr. Bunny.
"You got that straight," said Mrs. Bunny.

Contributing to and enhancing the audacity of this tale are the ink illustrations of Sophie Blackall.  Injecting humor at every turn leaving out no trifle, in the beginning when Madeline and Mildred are conversing, Mildred is hanging up bunny luminaries, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny fedora shopping, he sticking his nose into a hat or Mr. Bunny's wearing of the platform shoes as The Marmot is disguised, Blackall brings an ageless whimsy to the tale.  If eyes are the window to the soul, Sophie Blackall's pictures tell the true tale indeed.

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny-Detectives Extraordinaire! by Mrs. Bunny, translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath with illustrations by Sophie Blackall is a truly funny, fantastical folly full of memorable, heartwarming characters whose escapades laced with mystery are perfectly perfect. 

A Howling Good Time

What do children and wolves have in common?  Maryrose Wood, of course!  As author of the first book in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, The Mysterious Howling, she conjures up the right blend of English Victorian country life of the wealthy, subtle mystery, humorous mayhem and modern day references. 
Plucky, steadfast, fifteen year old Penelope Lumley, a recent graduate of Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, has been hired as governess at Ashton Place.  Imagine her surprise at finding that her new charges currently being housed in the barn were raised by wolves. On a recent hunting expedition in the estate woods Lord Frederick and his lifetime household servant, Old Thomas luckily realized their identity before taking a shot.  True to his saying of finders keepers Lord Frederick, despite his new bride's despair at becoming a mother so quickly, wants to raise the children, if for no other reason than as a curiosity.
Penelope eager to impart the same educational standards that she received at Swanburne Academy upon the three children finds that their canine tendencies need to be dealt with prior to studies beginning.  So with great patience Alexander (Alawoooooo), Beowulf (Beowoooooo), and Casseopeia (Casawoof) are taught by Miss Lumley the basics of cleanliness, how to dress in clothes, speech, letters and reading and of course, not to chase squirrels anymore.  When Lady Constance hears of their vast improvement she insists that they be presented at her first Christmas gala at Ashton Place.  As the days proceed toward the anticipated event, amid busy-bee preparations, constant and repetitious learning of proper etiquette, the mysteries surrounding Ashton Place begin to multiply as do the mounting tensions.
Who were Penelope's parents?  How did the children end up in the woods on the estate?  Why did Lord Frederick stay at his club so often?  Why did Old Thomas constantly hoover and hide in the background?    Why did Lord Frederick value his "almanac" so much?  Who sent the letter that added new dimensions to the Christmas celebration?  What was that noise in the walls on the fourth floor? 

Reading The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling is like opening a homemade present that has been lovingly crafted using witty, delightful words to create a cast of unforgettable characters whose lives intermingle for purposes that have yet to be revealed.  Artwork by Jon Klassen enticingly completes the package.  As Agatha Swanburne was know to say All books are judged by their covers until read.  The second installment, The Hidden Gallery, will be available February 22, 2011.

 

Secrets, Secrets and More Secrets

Recently while walking along the shelves in a local bookstore I came upon a book titled This isn't what it looks like.  This September 2010 publication is the fourth book in the Terces Society Mysteries.  Based upon the fascinating name of the author, Pseudonymous Bosch and I'll admit it, the cover, I purchased a copy of the first book in the series, The name of this book is secret. 
After being amply warned numerous times about its dangers (which just makes one want to read it all the more), this title introduces the reader to its main characters. Cassandra, a survivalist prone to read disaster into every situation, carries a backpack loaded with essentials that are key to overcoming any situation that may befall her.  Of all her dire predictions only her two substitute grandfathers, Grandpa Larry and Grandpa Wayne, seem to listen.  An old fire station is the location of their antique business and residence.  Max-Ernest, a would-be stand-up comedian, cannot stop talking.  Despite numerous trips and examinations by various medical professionals the cause for this condition has not been determined .  A friendship develops between these two quirky and endearing middle school students. 

Gloria Fortune, a local realtor, delivers a box to the Grandfathers' business one afternoon containing odds and ends from a magician's house that she has listed to sell.  It seems that the magician died under unusual circumstances; only his teeth were found in a pile of ash in the incinerated kitchen which was the only room to be burned in the house.  Upon closer examination after Sebastian, the family basset hound, smells something funny about the contents, a very old item is discovered, The Symphony of Smells.

Max-Ernest and Cassandra decide to explore the home on their own only to discover a hidden room and what looks to be a journal written by the magician.  They are frightened away by the appearance of Dr. L and Ms. Mauvais villains of the first order in search of...well, I can't tell you.  But beware, our two young detectives find themselves in a life or death situation involving puzzles as old as time after they solve a riddle in what, at first glance, appeared to be a journal of blank pages.

The mysteries and unanswered questions are non-stop as is the heart-pounding action.  The author's comments and asides not only provide additional information but add to the intrigue and off-beat humor.   Ending this installment as the author does with a message written on a foggy window is pure genius for who could resist going to the next volume. See you at the bookstore.

For further fun check out The Name of This Book Is Secret if you dare.

Michigan gets the Blues

Since Blue Balliett's debut novel, Chasing Vermeer, was published in 2004 readers have been privy to her unique, detailed mysteries.  She invites us to think, solve and ponder the possibilities alongside her characters using the same techniques that they use to crack the case.  It is through her blend of mystery and the world of art that readers have been introduced to Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer, one of the greatest American architects, Frank Lloyd Wright in The Wright 3 and most noted American sculptor, Alexander Calder in The Calder Game.

Her newest release, The Danger Box, is set in Three Oaks, Michigan and includes mention of Flint, Michigan as part of her plot development.

It seems that wealthy "Mr. Zip" has gone to great lengths to acquire an unknown object of untold value using four separate couriers before it is delivered to his home in Dearborn, Michigan.  When courier number four is taking a break in Flint, much to his surprise, he hears on the news that "Mr. Zip" has died.  Faced now with the moral dilemma of whether to complete his task or keep the item for himself he finds, to his dismay, that decision has been made, however temporarily, for him---his truck along with the box has been stolen.

The thief is none other than the cruel, dangerous, alcoholic father of our main character, Zoomy.  Zoomy was left on his grandparents doorstep by his mother when he was just an infant.  He has grown to be a boy of gifted talents despite his disabilities in the warm and caring atmosphere of his Gam and Gumps' home.   It is after his father's sudden appearance and the leaving behind of "stuff" for the Chamberlain Antiques and Whatnots shop owned by his grandparents that Zoomy is drawn into the secret held within the box.

During the first of numerous visits to the library  Zoomy meets, Lorrol, a summer visitor and girl with a quirky nature, who becomes his true friend and partner. As the reader will discover the box holds a notebook, a personal journal, kept by a man who changed our world by publishing his controversial book,  On the Origin of Species.

 Balliett draws her readers into the plot through the use of Zoomy's passion for keeping notebooks of lists just as the journal writer did.  Interspersed between the chapters are issues of The Gas Gazette, a free newspaper about a mysterious soul, that begin to appear around town.  It offers clues as to the identity of an unknown person's life which the reader will deduce is none other than Charles Darwin.  Further tension is created by the appearance in town of courier number four looking  for the box, the police hunting Zoomy's father and a devastating fire.

Although the three friends that we have come to know in her previous books are not part of this newest title, Blue Balliett opens once again a door that we might not have opened encouraging us to step into an adventure of the best kind...an adventure that challenges, educates and perhaps changes our minds.