Tag: Juvie Tuesday

This Isn’t What It Looks Like by Pseudonymous Bosch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Source: Checked out from the library

The fourth book in the series that began with The Name of This Book is Secret picks up where the third volume left off. In the early chapters, narrator Bosch splits attention between two stories: one is about a girl who wakes up in what appears to be a medieval European village unable to remember who she is, where she is, how she got there, or why she happens to be invisible; the other is about Max-Ernest, who is desperately trying to awaken his friend Cass, who has been in a strange sort of coma since taking a dose of time-travel chocolate. The reader can quickly figure out how these two stories mesh (you’ve probably put it together just reading this review), and it’s a relief when the two stories converge into one.

There is a lot of silliness here, in the style of the writing as well as the plot. Cass and Max-Ernest remain the center ground for the reader amid the swirl of outrageous situations and goofy narration. Bosch reads much like Lemony Snicket, explaining things in footnotes and hinting at secrets never quite revealed. Several of these footnotes refer the reader back to previous installments in the series; jumping into the series with this book is definitely not recommended. A cliff-hanger ending (and the fact that our heroes still haven’t uncovered The Secret) leaves readers anxiously anticipating the final volume, slated for publication in October 2011.

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Grounded by Kate Klise

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Daralynn Oakland should have been in her father’s plane that day. Instead, she was sitting at home, grounded by her mother, when a state trooper arrived to tell them that the plane’s engine failed, and that Daralynn’s father, older brother, and younger sister died in the crash. After that, nothing can be the same. Her homemaker mother stops cooking meals and takes a job preparing bodies at the local funeral home. Her grandmother loses interest in anything except playing with the 237 dolls well-wishers sent Daralynn. And her single, sophisticated Aunt Josie becomes infatuated with Mr. Clem, a new man in town with some awfully big ideas. Daralynn is just beginning to cope with her grief and the changes in her life when she stumbles on a mystery to solve.

The tiny town of Digginsville comes alive through carefully selected details, such as the K-12 school that is home to the “Mighty Moles” and Doc Lake, where Daralynn enjoys fishing for catfish stocked by the Department of Conservation. The year is left vague, but it is clearly a few decades ago, indicated by the fact that Uncle Waldo has been home from Vietnam for just six years before the crash, and a mention late in the book of events “twenty-two years after” that year. The voice of the first-person narrator, who sounds like an adult recalling her childhood, rather than a current sixth- or seventh-grader, reflects this perspective without calling too much attention to it.

There is some heavy material here, but Klise uses a gentle touch with her quirky characters. Their journey from life B.C. (“Before Crash”) to A.D. (“After Death”) is not without humor or adventure. Recommend to fans of Wiles’ Each Little Bird That Sings and LaFleur’s Love, Aubrey.

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