Nancy Drew, Buried Secrets

 

Nancy Drew could never stay away from a mystery. Her need to solve to solve this 30-year-old case only amplifies as time passes. First she saves Todd Harrington's life, then she is challenged to solve Todd's father's death, and finally is threatened multiple times by an anonymous figure. All the while she is trying to work things out with Ned Nickerson, her boyfriend visiting from college. At first she has two suspects, both of which have disappeared since the mysterious suicide of John Harrington; however, after uncovering a hidden tape recorder on the Harrington estate she realizes the truth. Sam Abbott, the current mayor, was being black mailed by the victim and killed him to be free. The supposed suicide was expertly solved in Carolyn Keene's novel.

Nancy Drew is a courageous detective. She follows all the leads in the case no matter the danger. When confronted, she doesn't run, even when she is almost killed, she chases the man instead of waiting for someone else to. She cares little of her appearance on the case, never stopping to change her clothes and never refraining to ask offensive questions. Nancy is passionate in her work and thorough  in her cases.

Like in all crime novels, one of  the many themes was justice. Nancy believes that John Harrington's death was no a suicide and searches until she finds the killer. Not only does she believe in it, but enforces justice. There are many people who say they care about every one's rights, yet few have the courage or strength to show it when  the time comes.

Not only would I recommend this specific book, but the whole series as well. Carolyn Keene never runs out of surprises in any of her books and the plots are never the same. She has insight into a teenager's personal feelings and is therefore able to connect with the age group these books aim to please . This book, along with her other works are perfect for all mystery fans.

Website for image: http://www.series-books.com/nancydrew/files.html

Alabama Moon

 

Watt Key creates an exciting plot full of capture and escaped in Alabama Moon. Moon Blake's story starts peacefully in the deep woods of Alabama with his father. When his father, now his only surviving guardian, dies and the land they had lived on is sold and searched chaos erupts. An orphan and minor, Moon is discovered living alone and is sent to Pinson, a boy's home that fails to contain restless Moon. Kit Slip and Hal Mitchell help him, and all the other Pinson boys escape,yet are they only ones that stay with Moon to venture further from civilization. Only after Hal leaves to live with his father and Kit becomes fatally ill do they return. Lack of proper medical care causes Kit to lose his life and Moon to give up. An angry constable takes Moon to court before his family is found and notified of Moon. In the end, Moon is adopted by his uncle, Hal went on back to Pinson, and the story becomes calm yet again.

Moon Blake is clueless. He has no knowledge of manners, who to trust, of when to quit. The small bow takes down many grown men before realizing the care about his safety. His knowledge extends to survival in the forest, not in the city Moon wishes to be independent only because it is what he was taught by his father. He disapproves of the government just as his father did. Moon was taught how to survive, in this book he learns how to live.

Kit Slip was a Pinson orphan with medical issues. Moon showed him how to become a nature loving boy. Kit trusted Moon to show him how to become independent. For such a fragile boy, he sure had a strong will. Kit may have died in the end, but he made an impression on not only Hal and Moon, but the reader as well.

Kids do need guidance. This was the lesson I saw all throughout the book. If Moon and Kit had listened to the adults and taken Kit's medication, he would have stayed healthy. Moon wouldn't have won his trial against Constable Sanders without help from Mr. Wellington, Moon's lawyer, who found him after his father's death. Moon shouldn't have been so set on doing things on his own. He should have asked for help.

I enjoyed reading the book Alabama Moon, yet I did not enjoy the book itself. The plot was intriguing, but the ending wasn't what I expected. To me, books are supposed to be places where endings are perfect; where everyone is happy. In this book the weakest boy died. When I thought about that it seemed as though it diminished hope. I was waiting all through the book that Kit would get better, he would overcome his problems, but he didn't. Overall, the book was spectacular, but one depressing event and the ending ruined my night.

http://www.wattkey.com/ (This is Watt Key's website and where I got my picture.)

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

It all started with an arson. In the book Scat by Carl Hiaasen is is perceived as a simple wildfire of the Florida dry season. To Nick Waters and Marta Gonzalez, the fire is not as important as Ms. Starch, their hard core biology teacher who went missing during this fire. Duane Scrod Jr., a 16-year-old student, and Twilly Spree, a nature-loving, cash-filled man, still decide that another thing entirely is their most important goal; Red Diamond Energy company planned to illegally drill oil and scared away an endangered mother panther in the process, leaving the cub on its own. After some digging around and running into each other, Nick and Marta find that Duane Jr., Twilly, and Ms. Starch, who are hiding in the Black Vine swamp since the fire, are looking after the panther cub and tracking the frightened mother. It all changes when D.J. is charged with arson and then becomes a fugitive. Nick knows he is innocent and helps find the panther anyway, however, Marta is shaky and only goes because Nick is there. In the end, Jimmy Lee Baylis , the Red Diamond project manager, is charged with arson, and the rest of the company with illegal drilling. Nick and Marta get the panther cub to its mother, and Twilly and Duane Jr. save Ms. Starch after she gets badly injured. Fire is never simply handled in this action-filled book.

In Scat there are two main characters, Nick Waters and Marta Gonzalez. Nick and Marta alike are students at the Truman School in suburban Florida. Both love to succeed and are passionate in what they do. Nick is the more gut-trusting, following every feeling he has and even becoming left-handed after his father's right arm is amputated in Iraq. Marta, however, follows the crowd, or in this case, Nick, and only commits fully in demanding situations. To her a demanding situation would be along the lines of when Nick is called out to sing in class after his father's accident. She chose to stand up and forcefully tell the substitute to leave him alone.

Twilly Spree is another character that you hear about all throughout the book. He is an odd sort that is not often written about in other books. He has everything and more, yet puts less above him. Twilly chose to oversee the panther cub himself instead of contacting someone else to do it for him. He is a big man with a gentle heart, large pockets yet little want, and is the type of person that is rare in society.

The reoccurring theme I saw in this book was teamwork. All of the characters were from different backgrounds, yet worked perfectly together, paying no attention to their differences. Twilly was rich, D.J. was poor, Ms. Starch was unreadable, and Nick was an open book. I relate this to my math group. In no way are we saving endangered animals, but we get the job done and done well. One person in my group is a sporty, unfocused student, another a hardcore, schoolwork-doing girl, and me, crazy and calm in one. Both may math group and the group in Scat don't notice the difference in each other and finish their task at hand.

Like almost every other book I read, I loved it. I would recommend it to other junior high students because it shows confidence. It shows we have the power to change, to help. We aren't too young or old to participate, we aren't restricted anymore. This book entertains the reader and when though about, has many life lessons that impact positively on everybody.

http://www.carlhiaasen.com/books/books-scat.html (This is Carl Hiaasen's official site as well as where I got my picture from.)