- on his first day of work as the student president’s bodyguard, Abraham loses her to kidnappers!
- with the help of friends and convenient secret service gadgets, the middle schoolers follow clues toward a hopeful rescue
- themes include leadership, courage, perseverance, friendship, integrity in journalism, and overcoming a family curse of mediocrity
- convo:
- constant mentions of bowel movements in just about every possible way
- significant amount of romance between 11- and 12-year-old children (actual words used: crush, dating, going together, boyfriend, goo-goo-ga-ga, lovebirds, etc. + a hand lingering in another hand, blushes, hoping for a kiss, hugs, one kiss on cheek)
- alcoholic drinks briefly mentioned
- smoking (not by children)
- each student has a cell phone
- parents are either not in the story or unhelpful or dumb/gullible
- current cultural references to note: Taylor Swift, Voldemort, Lex Luthor, and a few more (minor)
- occasional lying to and hiding things from parents
- general emphasis on other currently hot topics: veganism, animal cruelty, female leadership, believe-in-yourself mentality
- a few minor crude jokes (such as about wedgies)
- language: stupid x5, darn x3, heck x2, geeze x1, bloody x2 (as a swear), sucks x1, screwed x1, gee x1, gosh x1
Type: chapter book
Ages: 12-14
Author: Jason F. Franz
I must begin by saying Franz is a clever writer with an ability to infuse humor in unlikely places. Some of his similes made me audibly laugh. It was quippy and upbeat a lot of the time, and the urban Washington, D.C. setting was fun.
But the rest simply overturned those good elements. First, the digestion theme was overwhelming. The main boy’s stomach was constantly upset (said in dozens of different ways), and he was always visiting the bathroom (talk to a man about a horse, sit on his porcelain throne, trip to the can, gotta go release the hounds, etc.). And, no, I don’t always review potty-talk books negatively. There’s a time and a place and a way to let boys laugh at poo jokes.
The other elements, however, were what really knocked down the stars in my personal rating. All of them combined (deceit, romance, etc.) resulted in a decision to not hand this book to my children. We’re just not the right fit, and I’m moving on. I wouldn’t be opposed to reading a future book by Franz because of his skill, but this one’s going straight to the archives.