“Charlie and Bernadette are two newly minted middle graders who need each other. Bernadette's home life leaves much to be desired. Her mom's got substance abuse problems and a fixation on murdering Bernadette's absent dad with her bare hands. Charlie offers some sense of purpose and connectedness. He's funny, good looking, has an uncanny sense of what time it is, makes good folded napkin cranes and is "stone blind, bottom-of-a-midnight-well blind." Bernadette is an exceptional guide-friend.
Joined by Lewis Ellief, a quirky insecure tag-along, and Gideon, a super-confident classmate that appears in the nick of time (along with a celestial soundtrack) to avert disaster, the kids bravely face the challenges of middle school: bullies, odd-ball teachers, dog attacks, wild bus rides, sneering peers, and mind-bending assignments. And if weren't enough, Charlie's dad has been charged with a string of cash-machine robberies, and the friends set out to discover the real culprit.—from Amazon?
I loved the quirky characters and how they formed their own support network. The adults in the book are not positively portrayed and the kids are shown to be much smarter. Still I liked the care and interaction between the characters, their understanding and humor. The mystery adds additional appeal.
KL
(2005) 278 pages”
