|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Trouble has once again come to Scumble River. Skye Denison, our heroine and school psychologist for the entire system, is helping with the Valentine Day dance at the high school. Her brother's music group, newly renamed The Pink Elephant and playing a different repertoire of loud hard rock, is scheduled to play. But the boys in the band are not getting along and, in fact, there have been several fist fights, and Skye is worried In addition, there seems to be something strange happening at the school and, in fact, in other small towns around as well. Kids are acting peculiarly and out of character. At the dance one boy decides to take a shower while fully dressed, for example. Then toward the end of the dance a fire breaks out. All the students get out safely but when the firemen investigate they find a burned corpse behind the stage. Skye's brother may be the main suspect so she is inspired to investigate. But something is bothering Wally, the chief of police, and he isn't nearly as friendly as usual. And so off we go on another adventure with Skye and her family and familiars. It's always fun to come back to Scumble River and see what is going on with our friends there. And Swanson truly understands small towns and what makes them tick. Everyone knows everyone else's business and what everyone should be doing about it. No one can do anything without the whole town finding out. But they are also ready and willing to help those in trouble. This makes investigating both easy and difficult. Skye doesn't need to ask a lot of questions; she just needs to know the right person to ask (and it is usually her mother). On the other hand it is easy to put herself in jeopardy just by asking a few questions. I enjoy the humor in these books. It is gentle and often self-deprecating. It grows out of characters and situations, and it is not the 'pie in the face, fall down on a banana peel' type that I find forced and often rather offensive. The characters are pleasant and likable. The main characters are pretty well fleshed out - Skye, her mother, the two high schoolers who often help her out, and Simon, Skye's boyfriend. The incidental players are usually a little more two-dimensional but quite well enough done that we recognize them and their characteristics. This book is a very easy-reading book. The author does nothing to get in the way of her story and she gets the reader involved early so that she cares about what happens to the characters. It is not complicated or deep although there is always some interesting information slipped in to attract the reader. And Swanson definitely comprehends the teenage psyche and how school systems and their bureaucracies function both for the students and for the teachers. It's refreshing to read someone who really understands this setting. The plot is also well thought-out. I had no idea who the culprit might be until Skye unmasked him/her. There were plenty of red herrings as well as a couple of subplots to lure the reader down the wrong paths. This is another enjoyable outing and I am happy to recommend it.
Reviewed by Sally Fellows, June 2004
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
