[LISTENED TO: October 2012] The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity
I found this book because I was looking for audio books for my kids. When we take longish car trips, they absolutely love audio books (which is pretty frikkin awesome by itself). Anyhow, I was browsing the shelf and saw this title. Clark and Tabitha enjoy A to Z Mysteries, so I thought this might be a bit more stimulating (it says it’s for 8-10 year olds, but Tabitha (5) enjoyed it and I didn’t find it too harsh for her).
I had never heard of the author [that is not true…more on that later], but the back of the book had accolades from Jeff Kinney, Dave Eggers and Jon Scieszka a triumvirate of trustworthy praise.
The audio book was read by Arte Johnson (yes, that Arte Johnson). I don’t know if it was Arte’s delivery, but I enjoyed this book more than anything I have read in a long long time. I wonder if the book would have been as enjoyable had I read it–I assume so because it was really fantastic, but it was a lot of fun listening with the whole family.
So this story is about 12-year-old Steve Brixton, a regular kid who happens to love the The Brighton Brothers Mysteries, a classic series of adventures (think Hardy Boys) in which two brothers get into scrapes and situations, take out thugs using their combination of brawn and brains and solve the mystery. Steve loves them so much he has written down all of their suggestions for successful sleuthing which he keeps in his Secret Book Box. He also got the Detective License for 12 box tops and $1.95.
He and his chum (all good detectives should have a chum) Dana have plans for the weekend until their teacher assigns them an 8 page research paper due on Monday. Topics are randomly assigned and while Dana gets “detectives,” Steve gets “early American needlework.” Miss Gilfeather suggests that it might be more interesting than he fears.
And boy is she correct.
As soon as he checks out the only book in his library about needlework (An Illustrated History of American Quilting. Call No: 746.46 Beckley), alarms go off, and black-outfitted ninja types burst through the windows of the library and aim guns at Steve. It turns out that the ninjas are really librarians–highly trained, aggressively dangerous keepers of all of the nation’s secrets (this is all true by the way, an MLIS is no laughing matter). They accuse Steve of working for Mister E who is trying to find the whereabouts of the Maguffin Quilt. The Maguffin Quilt contains all of the country’s secrets stitched into it. Ridiculous, right? Who would ever suspect that they would be hidden in a quilt? Exactly.
These secrets are incredibly important and can be sold to the highest bidder. That book which Steve checked out holds all of the secret symbols that will help lead to the quilt and as soon as Steve checked it out (and flashed his detective license) they knew he was working for Mister E.
Steve and Dana get involved in all manner of treachery. First Steve has to flee the library, then he must flee the police (the fax sequence is hilarious), then they meet Mister E’s henchman at the Red Herring, and get thrown into a ship that is about to sink.
Steve’s mother is also dating a local policeman whom Steve does not like. Rick, the policeman is always a suspect on Steve’s list for this one reason: he’s a jerk. The fact that Steve helped Rick catch a thief in the beginning of the book certainly makes him a likely culprit to Rick.
What is also wonderful about the book is that the jokes are hilarious–poking fun at the older mystery novels like saying that there are only three types of criminals, and once you’ve identified them all you’ll be an unstoppable crime fighting force: The Tough, The Ringleader and The Hermit. (Note: each one has a limp).
Each new problem introduces a new piece of information from the Bailey Brothers, like how to throw a haymaker punch and how to get out of various difficult situations using patented Bailey Brothers secrets.
But more than a funny book, the mystery is really great–I never would have figured it out. When it was revealed, I didn’t really think it was a “real” solution–the answer was so unexpected and yet looking back on the story it all adds up–it’s a very very good mystery and an awesome book.
Although I’m pissed that he revealed the secret librarian training that I went through.
So it turns out that Mac Barnett is not only the founder of a convenience store for time travelers, he works for 826 (the non-profit founded by McSweeney’s), he has also written a number of children’s books that we have really enjoyed: Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World, Oh No! Not Again!: (Or How I Built a Time Machine to save History) (Or at Least My History Grade), Chloe and the Lion [which I loved loved loved] and the enjoyable The Clock Without a Face: A Gus Twintig Mystery. So how about that.
We all cannot wait to listen to books two and three which are out now (and book four is due soon). The only bad thing about he audio books is that we don’t get to see the illustrations (which I’ve only seen online).
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