Hello my friends! Last week I waved sadly as Marvelous Middle Grade Monday passed me by, and promised myself I’d participate this week instead. It was a pretty momentous weekend for us, since my son–who has been serving a mission for our church in Korea these past two years–touched down that Thursday evening. And as fate would have it, I was plowing forward on my latest wip right up until about noon on the same day! It’s sooo great to have him home, and also great to type The End on yet another book. Huzzah for goals reached and for catching back up to MMGM! 🙂

Today’s spotlight is on Masterminds, by Gordon Korman. This was a book that was totally new to me, pointed out by a friend, and one I really enjoyed!

From page one it’s pretty clear there’s more to the town of Serenity then meets the eye. What’s fascinating for the reader is how the main character, Eli Frieden, and his friends discover the towns secrets and in doing so uncover their origins. This book is a big one for spoilers–honestly, it feels like I’m giving things away just by putting my fingers to the keyboard–so I’ll mostly just share a few things I really liked:

• Randy’s role, and the lasting impact he had. A fun kid, it just goes to show you don’t have to be labeled someone else’s ‘special’ to make a difference.
• The Purple-People-Eater trading cards. Sooo spot on with exactly the way kids act and think, and how they’d respond to this situation! Also, I kinda want some of my own.
• The fate of the potted geranium. There’s an example of a ‘get well’ gift that does more than cheer the patient!
• Tori’s journey. I enjoyed all the kids (well, pretty much all) but most of their stories seemed pretty straight forward and their reactions were about as expected. Tori’s home situation had a bit more depth, for me, and I appreciated the nuances of her particular challenge. I have high hopes for her arc in future books!

One strength of the book was the way we get to know the world through the different kids, and I feel this allows the story to be better flushed out. A drawback was the flip side of that coin, since I found the pov shifts just a little jarring pretty much every single time. However, if I had glanced at the chapter titles before beginning them, the pov switches would have been less of a problem. And as is I settled in quickly–usually by the middle of the first paragraph.

One of the other things I loved was the world building, for lack of a better word, and the way some things inside/outside Serenity were the same while many were different. I also loved that the parents were individual, and had varying degrees of success in their role. The adults were more than background characters and held their own fascination, all the way from Mrs. Delaney to Dr. Bruder’s jokes and neckties.

And on that cryptic note, let’s see what Apricot-kitty thought of it:

“I found most of it boring. Really, really boring. Those kids had the dullest lives around, and while their escape was interesting their basic lives was so boring I could hardly stay awake.”

Ooookay, not the response I was expecting. Personally I found it fast-paced and really enjoyed the challenges the kids faced, so going to have to disagree with her there. However, I will say that if the adults in Tori, Eli, and the rest the kids’ lives had wanted them to stay out of trouble, they should have given the kids a few solid challenges. No one wants to live without any excitement or moments of triumph and discovery. But then, I suppose that was the least of their mistakes!

For those who celebrate, I hope you had a great Star Wars Day this past week–I know we did! And on Saturday I attended a library sale for the whole county that was simply amazing. I’ll be sharing the books I picked up at some future point. I hope you’ll stop by Shannon Messenger’s blog for more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday reviews, spotlights, and giveaways, and happy reading!

Share, share away: