Middle Grade Monday: Shirley Link & The Safe Case

Title: Shirley Link & The Safe Case, by Ben Zackheim, 39 pages (there is some confusion; the paperback may be 102 pages?  The book is short, however, at under 10,000 words).
Publisher: Smashwords edition, orig. publication 2012.
Source: Smashwords free book

Summary:
Shirley Link is an 8th grader with an unusual talent: she can solve mysteries the way other kids decode text messages.  Shirley reminds me a bit of Sherlock Holmes, or Hecule Poirot, because she definitely uses the little grey cells, solving the case through careful observation (a la Holmes) and deep thought.  In this debut novel, Shirley takes on the problem of a large sum of money that has gone missing from the school safe.  Actually, the whole safe has gone missing, which is a mystery in itself, as it is larger than any of the doors or windows. But have no fear: Shirley is on the job, and the mystery doesn't stand a chance.

Review:
I liked Shirley from the moment she turned in her "What I did with my summer vacation" paper and got a D for writing fiction (okay, she was telling the truth, but still. . . ).  She's an insightful narrator with a touch of cynicism and just enough hubris to make it clear she's human.  She reveals herself well in her narration, and describes other characters, inside and out, with a few well-chosen words.  An example I liked was when she notes that the principal looks especially harried because "his eyeglasses sit on his nose like they want to escape his face." 

One quibble: Shirley herself is 14 (according to the blurb), and although the opening line speaks of her 8th grade English class, she apparently attends a high school.  At 14 my sons started 9th grade (which unlike 8th is commonly in a high school), so I did wonder if this was an error.  

The story is well-written and fast-paced, the language is imaginative, and the denouement is reasonably surprising.  A dry sense of humor kept me smiling, and I think this will work very well for the kids, too. 

My biggest issue is that the book is just too short!  I'm just starting the next book, but it, too, clocks in about 10,000 words.  Since the writing style of the books is firmly middle-grade (and an 8th-grade protagonist fits that very well, along with the minimal violence and clean relationships), that seems pretty short--more novella than novel.  The writing should match kids at a pretty high reading level, so I hope that future books in the series are longer and more complex to challenge them more.  Though Mr. Zackheim might be onto something, with some kids these days being too used to tweets to have patience for a longer story.

Highly recommended, for mystery fans of all ages from 9 or so up.

Full disclosure: I picked this book up as a free promotional copy, because the author was participating in a publicity campaign in which I was also involved.  Nonetheless, there is no expectation of a positive review, or indeed any review, and the opinion expressed herein is my own honest opinion.

Kid Lit Blog Hop: North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler

Title: North of Nowhere, by Liz Kessler, 264 pages.
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2013
Source: Library

Summary:
Mia and her mother rush to the tiny fishing village of Porthaven when word comes that her Grandad has disappeared.  Mia has double reason to be unhappy: not only is she worried about Grandad, but she's missing spring break with her friends back home.  And when she "meets" a girl her own age who seems so much like her, they can't seem to actually meet up.  But Mia's self-pity starts to fall away when things get really weird, and she has to risk everything to save everything.

Review:

It is a tiny bit of a spoiler to say what I'm about to say, so I'm putting the cover image here to keep you from looking if you don't want to.  But I can't review this without talking about it.

 

Okay, what I want to say is that this is one of the more interesting and twisted time-travel books I've read, and the author makes great use of the paradoxes of the genre.  The nature of the mystery is only slowly revealed, though this reader had no trouble seeing that time travel is involved, even from the blurb (which is why I'm not too concerned about this being a spoiler).  That's okay, because it's what is done with the time travel that is so gripping.  [Though I believe that the author makes one small anachronistic error, introducing a plastic bag in an era when they were not in common use (I know.  I was alive then.  I remember when plastic shopping bags became common, and I was old enough to make fun of the ridiculous things), the time differences are otherwise handled well and convincingly, and that was the only editorial lapse I noticed.]

The characters are well-drawn, and believable, with 13-year-old Mia displaying a convincing tendency to shift between her own selfish interests and disappointments and a mature desire to help her mother and grandmother however she can.  She mopes over the movies she misses, checks every few minutes to see if a miracle has occurred and she has cell reception after all--but manages to put all that aside when she really has to.  Other characters are less complete, but this is Mia's story, and they feel real enough to be her world.  The story is compelling, moves swiftly, and kept me reading right through to the end.

I was dubious at first (because weird time travel isn't wholly my thing), but Kessler won me over, and I give this one a strong recommendation to anyone who likes slightly off-beat novels with a touch of the fantastic.  Oh, and I love the cover.  Those blues and greens really are my favorites!

Full Disclosure: I checked North of Nowhere out of my library, and received nothing from the author or publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed herein are my own and no one else's.

Book Review: Whatever You Do, Don't Run

Title: Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide, by Peter Allison.
Publisher: Lyons Press, 2007.  200 pages.
Source: Library (ebook)

Summary:
This memoir is a collection of tales from Peter Allison's 12 years as a safari guide, mostly in Botswana.  Each chapter is a free-standing tale of a single adventure, some mere vignettes, some lengthy.  One chapter is a narration of the story of Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana and the man largely responsible for making the country what it is.  The title is taken from the sound advice on what to do when faced with a predator, because "food runs."

Review:
My Mom recommended this book, and she was spot on.  As a fan of Alistair McCall Smith's "#1 Ladies Detective Agency" books, it was fun to see another view of Botswana.  And though I'm not 100% sure why, this book caught my fancy and tickled my funny bone, and I zipped through it almost non-stop.  Allison has a dry sense of humor, usually deployed at his own expense (though he doesn't spare the idiosyncrasies--or the idiocies--of the tourists he guided).  The tone of the book is generally humorous, though there are poignant moments that help keep it from feeling too superficial.

Allison was a very young man when he started guiding (about 19), and most of the guides were young men (and a few women).  Behavior off-duty often reflected that status, but these were also professionals, so Allison and his co-workers were always up and always "on" when the clients were present.

For a light, fun, and occasionally laugh-out-loud glimpse into another life in another place, Whatever You Do, Don't Run is a good bet.  I might have liked a little more sense of time and narrative line (I was never sure if the stories were more or less in chronological order, or just arranged to make for a decent narrative structure, or hap-hazard), but I smiled, chucked, and occasionally snorted my way through them all regardless.  Highly recommended for some light reading on a rainy afternoon or two.

Not suitable for young children, but I would guess that animal lovers from maybe 12 or so up would encounter nothing they haven't heard at school (mild profanity and occasional discussions of the reproductive activities of the animals), and would have a fun time with it.  They might also be inspired to run away to Africa to be safari guides.  Depending on how you are feeling about your teen, this could be a good thing.


Disclaimer: I borrowed Whatever You Do, Don't Run from my (digital) library and received nothing from the author or the publisher in exchange for my honest review.  The opinions expressed herein are my own and those of no one else.