I'm out of touch with the youths. [The Secret Notebook by D.A. D'Aurelio]
Riley Green is certain her lie detector pen will improve her status in a school full of kids from the most powerful families of Washington, D.C. But her plan collapses when her invention idea is stolen, her favorite teacher goes missing, and mysterious threats begin to appear around capital. Before vanishing, Riley's teacher entrusts her with her most prized possession, the lost notebook of Nikola Tesla, legendary inventor and scientist. Now Riley and her friends must protect the notebook from thieves who want to steal the details it holds about a dangerous invention. When Riley discovers another secret, she must decode a mysterious message before it's too late. Her teacher's life depends on it.
I honestly barely remember what I was reading in middle grade. I know more about what I was (biographies and the most random fiction) and what I wasn't (any of the popular books) reading in elementary and high school (a little bit of everything). Different kids have different reading levels and accept different things in their stories, suspend their disbelief with varying degrees of success. D.A. D'Aurelio's The Secret Notebook is a middle grade mystery thriller that in my opinion, asks the reader to accept a lot, that the story should continue without narrative break.
*LIGHT SPOILERS*
On the one hand the protagonist moves in a peerage of children from elite, well-educated and well-connected families. She bemoans her "outsider status" while ignoring that her access to those same connections innately makes her connected. Above all else the idea that young children are so ill-attended that they're able to get involved in a murder plot, roam New York City for hours unattended, while maintaining shaking awareness of the world around them (who in the world of cellphones doesn't have a slight inkling of what a criminologist is, I don't know) was a bit much.
The story was cute. The book was a fast and enjoyable read. A motivated reader might finish this book in less than five hours. Would I recommend it? Sure. Is it appropriate for the middle grade audience? Yes. But can I see it appealing to that group? How much do I see the 10 to 14 year old demographic really enjoying this book? When I think back to when I was 10, sure, maybe or probably, I would have enjoyed this. I can see my 10 year old cousins enjoying this. Or they might find this story a bit average. At 14 years old? That's really pushing it. All in all, this book is better offered to the lower end of that age spectrum, but again, who am I to make generalization of reading levels and taste. I liked the story so it gets 4 stars from me.
*LIGHT SPOILERS*
On the one hand the protagonist moves in a peerage of children from elite, well-educated and well-connected families. She bemoans her "outsider status" while ignoring that her access to those same connections innately makes her connected. Above all else the idea that young children are so ill-attended that they're able to get involved in a murder plot, roam New York City for hours unattended, while maintaining shaking awareness of the world around them (who in the world of cellphones doesn't have a slight inkling of what a criminologist is, I don't know) was a bit much.
The story was cute. The book was a fast and enjoyable read. A motivated reader might finish this book in less than five hours. Would I recommend it? Sure. Is it appropriate for the middle grade audience? Yes. But can I see it appealing to that group? How much do I see the 10 to 14 year old demographic really enjoying this book? When I think back to when I was 10, sure, maybe or probably, I would have enjoyed this. I can see my 10 year old cousins enjoying this. Or they might find this story a bit average. At 14 years old? That's really pushing it. All in all, this book is better offered to the lower end of that age spectrum, but again, who am I to make generalization of reading levels and taste. I liked the story so it gets 4 stars from me.
The Secret Notebook is set to be published August 1st, 2020.
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