Module 9: The Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity

Book Summary

In The Case of the Case of the Mistaken Identity, Steve Brixton takes on his first adventure as a detective. After being assigned a research paper by his Social Studies teacher, Ms.Gilfeather, he has to check out a book on American Needlework. After checking out American Needlework, starts a chain reaction that sets the police and the Librarians, a secret U.S. agency, on Steve Brixton's trail. Steve Brixton uses The Baily Brother's Detective Handbook to help him solve the case and sort out the true identity of Mr. E. 

APA Reference of the Book
Barnett, Mac. (2009). The case of the case of the mistaken identity. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 

Impression

I really enjoyed this book. It was engaging, clever, and campy. The book was suspenseful and kept the reader engaged in figuring out the mystery until the very end of the book. I was able to hear Mac Barnett speak at the International Literacy Association Conference this summer. He talked about his favorite books growing up which were Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. It is very apparent that those books were a huge inspiration for this book. Additionally, I always am looking for a good series to hook young readers and keep them interested in reading them all. These series would definitely be kept in my library's collections. 

Professional Review

Kid walks into your library. Says he wants a mystery series. A new mystery series. You hand him Encyclopedia Brown. He withers you with a glance. You hand him Enola Holmes. His upper lip curls at the female protagonist (it happens). You hand him a recent Hardy Boys where they fight terrorists. He looks at you like he may be seriously doubting your sanity. You finally hand him The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mac Barnett, the first in The Brixton Brothers series. He sighs in relief and then asks for the other books in the series. You tell him there is only one out right now. He kicks you in the shins. And, ladies and gentlemen, this little drama is soon to play out your home town any minute now. Countless young hoodlums will instantly find their desire for mystery and snarky self-aware writing satiated by this Mr. Barnett, only to find themselves infuriated by the (as of this review) lack of subsequent novels in the series. Reports of the death of the boy detective novel have been greatly exaggerated. It lives on the only way it can in this day and age; with a wink and a nod.

If there’s one thing Steve Brixton knows about it’s detective work. And why wouldn’t he? A fan of the great Bailey Brothers book series, Steve is pretty confident that in the event of a crime he’d definitely be the one to solve it in the end. So all things considered, he’s probably the perfect fellow to be mistaken for an evil spy. That’s just what happens when Steve goes into his local library to check out a book on quilting for a school project. Next thing he knows, Steve’s discovered that all librarians belong to a highly specialized force of undercover agents and he has, unwittingly, pitted himself against them. Now he has to clear his name and find out the true villains before the librarians get their hands on him once and for all.

It’s funny. Funny is hard. I don’t mean to say that there aren’t plenty of books for kids out there that are funny. Sure there are. But to write a funny book is to write a story that sustains its humor and still manages a satisfying ending, which is no small potatoes. Fortunately Barnett, who has seemingly appeared out of the ether itself, has a style that amuses both kids and adults simultaneously, without talking down to either of them. His writing will undoubtedly catch you unawares. It’s all in the details. For example, at one point we read, “Steve hated fish. He hated the way they tasted and the way they smelled, but more than anything he hated the way they looked. The problem was in the eyes. There was no difference between the eye of a dead fish and the eye of a live one.” Beautiful. In the same vein the next chapter begins by describing a villain as “a nasty, brutish, and short man.” That’s for the adults.

Now in this book Steve spends much of his time attempting to imitate his beloved book-based heroes, only to find himself failing at almost every turn. Tightening your muscles when you’re tied with ropes so they’ll slip off when the villains leave? Doesn’t really work. Throwing a punch? Not as easy as it sounds. Eventually we get the feeling that the author of these Bailey Brothers books must be a bit of a lazy lou since half the time the boys are rescued at the last minute by their day anyway. Barnett has managed to capture the feel of the old time boys’ adventure novel but has done so without sacrificing our modern logic and sensibilities. It’s sort of what M.T. Anderson keeps trying to do with his Whales on Stilts series without ever quite getting it right. Barnett walks the line and he walks it well.

When Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians came out I found it pandering. Which was an odd reaction because if there’s anything that doesn’t pander to librarians, it’s calling them evil in the title of a book. Still, I wasn’t buying it. Put the word “librarian” in a title and it’s like my fellow brethren are instantaneously hypnotized into buying the book. “I don’t know what it was about that story. I just had to get forty copies for my branch!” The best case example of this isThe Boy Who Was Raised by Librarians. Shameless doesn’t even begin to cover it. So I’m giving an extra 25 points to this book for not saying “library” or “librarian” anywhere in the title. Granted the cover image shows special ops rappelling into a reference section, but that’s forgivable. And Barnett does lay it on pretty thick when he turns librarians to a covert operation that puts the CIA, the FBI, and M5 to shame. Clearly Mr. Barnett has never had the pleasure of watching a room full of MLIS degrees debate the relative merits of doing storytimes in the morning verses doing them in the afternoons of a given weekday. Trust me, we’ve bigger fish to fry than mere international intrigue. Anyway, Barnett protects himself from accusations of true pandering when he makes fun of READ posters. We’ll give him credit there.

The book has the most obvious similarities to The Hardy Boys, of course. Steve’s belovedBailey Brothers are essentially Frank and Joe renamed Shawn and Kevin. But as for this book itself, I saw hints of other boy detective novels lurking in the corners. For example, early in the story Steve listens as his mother’s new boyfriend, a cop, recounts a crime happening in town that has the police stumped. The chapter ends with Steve saying, “I’m not sure the thief is even a human.” Now if that isn’t Encyclopedia Brown all over, I don’t know what is. You half expect to see at the bottom of the page the sentences, “Why was Steve so sure the thief wasn’t a human being? Turn to the back of the book for the answer!” Instead, Steve gives his reasons and, as with the rest of the book, your expectations are upset. Instead of praising him for his ingenuity, Rick the cop just guffaws at what, ultimately, is the correct solution. Steve is simultaneously under and over estimated throughout this book. Usually you get only one or another when you read a mystery novel for kids. Spices things up a bit when you get both (and a variety of different kinds of detective tales as well). Plus I love that rather than tiptoe around the issue of how unlikely it would be for adults to take a kid like this seriously, Barnett rams into the issue with gusto and devil take the consequences.

Pairing illustrator Adam Rex with Barnett seems obvious now and, let’s face it, probably seemed obvious right from the start to everyone involved with this project. He’s precisely the kind of man you want working on a book of this sort. Rex’s pen-and-ink drawings can be cartoonish one moment and then drawing beautifully incomprehensible technical diagrams (knot-tying, anyone?) the next. The man has range and range is what you want when you hope to mix realism with outright goofiness. Plus Rex is funny in his own right without distracting from Barnett’s humor. When you see that picture of Steve standing in the doorway of a rough bar in a ridiculous sailor costume, the outfit is funny but even funnier are the tough guys who have also stopped to stare at him. The captions on the photos, besides adding a nice retro feel, are the icing on the cake.

I’m immature enough that I was pleased with myself when I guessed the villain correctly, long before the end of the book. I am also thirty-one, so I probably shouldn’t feel as good about that as I do. Still, if you’re in the neighborhood for a great new mystery series with a tongue stuck so far into its cheek that it’s practically coming out its ear, this is it. Modern to its core but still a good mystery and action adventure novel, this is one of the smartest little books I’ve seen in a long time. 21st century kids are gonna adore it. Guaranteed.

Bird, E. (2009, September 26). Review of the day- The Brixton Brothers: The case of the case of the mistaken identity [Review of the book The case of the case of the mistaken identity]. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/09/26/review-of-the-day-the-brixton-brothers-the-case-of-the-case-of-mistaken-identity/

Library Uses

I would use this series to help highlight mystery books and make comparisons to classic books in the genre. If young readers now are interested and engaged in these books, it would be an easy connection to introduce them to older mysteries such as The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries. 

Module 8: Doll Bones

Book Summary

Zach, Poppy, and Alice are longtime friends that have been playing a long running imaginative game with their toys. This game includes magic, pirates, princesses, thieves, and many other fantasy elements. The Great Queen is a bone-china doll that rules the game. Now that the three students are in middle school, they are beginning to drift apart due to differing interests. Zach's father, in an effort to make Zach grow up, throws out the toys. Instead of telling the girls the truth, Zach tells them he never wants to play again. Poppy begins to have dreams that the Queen wants them to return her to her grave. She convinces the friends to set off on an adventure to return the Queen to her grave three hours away. The adventure does not go according to plan and the three friends find themselves in some trouble along the way, but in the end find the importance of their friendship as they change.

APA Reference of the Book
Black, Holly. (2013). Doll Bones. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
 
Impression
I am not a huge fantasy fan and was not really looking forward to reading this book. However, I ended up enjoying the book much more than I though. The fantasy elements of this book were subtle and used to drive the plot, but not necessarily the focus of this book. The book was more focused on the three main characters, their friendship, and how those relationships change and grow as young people mature. The Queen and the possible haunted aspect made the story more interesting, but did not distract from the main theme of this piece. I think that young people looking for a "scary" book will be disappointed with this book. In my opinion, the cover is by far the scariest element of the book. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, would recommend it to patrons, and include it in my library's collection. 

Professional Review

The shadowy threshold that lies between the fancies of childhood and the realities of the adult world can be awfully difficult to navigate, and that’s precisely where best friends Zach, Poppy, and Alice find themselves as they make their way through middle school. For years now, their friendship has centered on “the game,” a roleplaying fantasy in which the three pals bring out their best action figures and dolls and pretend to be various heroes and villains going on glorious adventures. Their fun abruptly comes to a halt when Zach’s father throws his dolls in the trash and informs him that it’s time to grow up; though furious, Zach feels his father may be right and ignores his friends’ pleas to return to the game. Poppy won’t give up so easily, however, and convinces Zach to join her and Alice on a last mission: one of her dolls has been visiting Poppy in her dreams, and Poppy believes the doll holds the spirit of a murdered girl who must be put to rest.

Black manages a careful balancing act of reality and fantasy, using the effectively creepy ghost story as the backdrop to a poignant exploration of what is lost along the way to adulthood. The dreamlike quality of the fantastical journey the kids undergo, pirating a dinghy on a local river and indulging in sweets-only meals, is superimposed against the urban decay of an economically depressed town, reminding readers that not all stories, especially in the real world, have happy endings. Indeed, reality can be quite painful for our heroes: Zach’s rage at his father comes as much from his father’s prolonged absence and sudden reappearance as his trashing of Zach’s dolls; Poppy’s exhausted parents barely notice her among her raft of siblings; Alice struggles to please her overbearing grandmother. The game offers each of them a refuge, and when Zach’s plan to quit and deprive the game of its hero alters the landscape of their pretend world, it’s not so much the magic of that place that the friends fear losing but its safety.

The threat that their looming adulthood carries is apparent in the story of Eleanor, the girl whose ghost who may be inhabiting the doll they call the Queen. It’s never quite clear if the ghost is real or merely another product of Poppy’s imagination, and the ambiguity creates a sinister and slightly disorienting air. The real Eleanor’s death as an adolescent, murdered at the hands of an unpredictable force, is a childhood fear come to fruition: that bad things can and do happen in ways that defy the safe conventions of storytelling. The efforts of Zach, Poppy, and Alice to set things right for Eleanor therefore feel wonderfully, if a bit hopelessly, naïve, lacing the bravery of their quest with a touch of melancholy.

The emotional journey is as satisfying as the actual adventure: the aforementioned pirating of small boats, along with midnight bus trips, narrow escapes [End Page 451] from well-intentioned librarians, and graveyard searches will keep readers turning the pages, even the tweens who yet experienced the sturm und drang of adolescence. Those readers who have weathered the storm, however, and who are mourning the world they once inhabited will find a kindred spirit in Poppy, whose lament, “I hate that everyone calls it growing up, but it seems like dying,” is keenly felt by nostalgics everywhere. (See p. 454 for publication information.)

Quealy-Gainer, K.(2013). Doll bones by Holly Black (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 66(10), 451-452. The Johns Hopkins University Press.

 
Library Uses

While I do not think this book is necessarily "scary," there is definitely a creepy element to it. I would include it in a "spooky" display around Halloween to encourage students to read higher quality literature than some of the typical Halloween books. In that display, I would also include The Night Gardener and The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy.

Module 7: Junonia

Book Summary

For her birthday every year, Alice and her family take a trip to Florida and stay in a beach side cabin called Scallop. From the moment she arrives, Alice learns that this trip, for her tenth birthday, will not be the same. Some of her favorite people that usually are there will not be able to come. Her Aunt Kate is coming but bringing her new boyfriend and his daughter Mallory. Mallory does not seem happy about being at the beach and has constant outbursts and tantrums about various things. Alice eventually learns that Mallory's parents are going through a divorce and her mother has moved to France. Although Alice's tenth birthday does not go exactly as planned, in the end, Alice shows a level of maturity and learns empathy towards Mallory. 

APA Reference of the Book
Henkes, K. (2011). Junonia. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
 
Impression
I was pretty disappointed in this book. I really loved Olive's Ocean by Kevin Henkes. When I started the book, it had the same feel, so I had high hopes. This book wasn't bad; I would classify it as average, but I definitely wanted more from it. I found the characters to fall a bit flat. There was not much development of them or of the rising action. My impression of Alice is that she was a privileged child who had never experienced any type of real struggle. Everything she was over dramatically upset about was a "first world problem." There was mentions of some type of facial deformity, but it was never addressed. I think had that been more developed, my opinion of her would have changed and the story would have been more interesting and engaging. Mallory was the most complex character, but she was quickly pulled away from the end of the story and the reader never got to find out how her character fully changed. The setting of the book and descriptions Henkes used were phenomenal and the best part of the entire book. The setting was so developed and weaved throughout the entire book that it became another character, and in my opinion, the best developed. 

Professional Review
Every February, Alice and her family leave their wintry Wisconsin home for the sunny shores of Florida on a week-long vacation that usually falls right around Alice's birthday. This year is going to be extra special as Alice turns ten, and she's looking forward to celebrating with her fellow snowbird neighbors, whom she considers to be her extended family. From the minute she arrives, however, things are different: Mr. and Mrs. Wishmeier's grandchildren won't be visiting due to school, another friend is snowed in back in New York, and Aunt Kate—Alice's favorite relative—is bringing her boyfriend and his spoiled six-year-old daughter, Mallory. Perfectly capturing a girl on the verge of adolescence, Henkes offers up a quiet and, at times, almost mournful tale about the loss of simple childhood magic and the inevitable arrival of adulthood. Well loved and sheltered, Alice is just beginning to peek out at a world beyond her parents' arms, and what she finds is both exhilarating and unnerving. The independence, for example, to search the beach for shells by herself is wonderful, but the specter of loneliness and abandonment, as represented by Mallory and her wayward mother, weighs heavily upon a thoughtful Alice. The story ends on a hopeful note as Alice steps into her role as the older, wiser child through her friendship with Mallory, but an underlying thread of grief, simple and unaffected, remains palpable even at the conclusion. Readers who find themselves reluctant to leave behind the comforts of familiarity, even as they yearn for freedom and excitement, will readily relate to Alice's dilemma. Black-and-white line drawings gently textured with hatching open each chapter.


Quealy-Gainer, K.(2011). Junonia (review). Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 64(10), 472.
 
Library Uses
Kevin Henkes has such a wide range of styles. His novels are so different than Caldecott winning picture books. All of these are so different than his most famous books such as Chrysanthemum, Owen, and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. I think he would be a great author to highlight in a display to encourage children of all ages to check out his wide range of work. This book would be a great addition because it is appropriate for third or fourth graders.