Following Fake Man

Author: Barbara Ware Holmes

Homer has learned not to ask questions about the past, especially about his father, because his mother clams up whenever he asks. All of the questions have been going into a “suitcase” in his brain so he doesn’t have to think about them all the time. However, now that he and his mother (and their housekeeper) are vacationing in Maine, that suitcase won’t stay shut anymore.
They are staying in a house they own, that they last visited when Homer was a baby—when his father was alive. Something about the house or the village begins to work on Homer, and he can no longer accept his mother’s reluctance to tell him about his father. The first thing Homer does the morning after they arrive is go to the village and look around, knowing that his father had once walked in these streets and visited the same shops.
He meets Roger Sweeney, a kid about his own age, who is shooting rubber bands at an old man. Roger says the man isn’t really old, and is convinced there is some nefarious reason for him to be in disguise. Roger had tried several times to follow him to figure out where he lives, but the man always acted very cagy and gave him the slip. Later, back at the house, when Homer tells about meeting Roger Sweeney, his mother tells him not to go “making connections.”
That day, Homer’s mother has to go to town on an errand, so Madeline has to drive, and Homer is dragged along too. He’d rather stay in the village and watch boats or something, but his mother insists. There’s a really thick fog on the peninsula, and the car almost hits a man. When Homer’s mother checks to see if the man is hurt, Homer recognizes him as the fake old man. The astonishing thing is that Fake Man and Homer’s mother obviously recognize each other, too! Before Homer can ask her what is going on (and insist on answers this time), she is hit with a migraine headache that completely flattens her.
Homer’s suitcase of questions keeps popping open. Why doesn’t his mother want him making friends? What is the connection between her and Fake Man? What does Roger’s mother know about the situation? What is going on at the mysterious Spookety Cabin?
Homer decides the only way he is going to find out anything is by following Fake Man, no matter how much trouble it lands him in.

The story is told in Homer’s voice, first person, with occasional short chapters in the voices of other characters (Madeleine, Homer’s mother, and Roger Sweeney). Roger’s pieces are handwritten scrapbook pages with cutout pictures and cartoons—perfectly capturing his character, and the typefaces for Madeline and Homer’s mother reflect their personalities as well.
This is a believable and compelling mystery, but it is not a conventional mystery novel. Homer isn’t a young detective; he’s just a kid who is trying to find out things that have been hidden from him.

Pool Boy

Author: Michael Simmons

Brett had a pretty nice life until his dad ruined everything. He lived in a big house with a pool, had a $5,000 stereo, and all the cash he wanted—but then the police came to arrest his father for insider trading. Despite expensive lawyers, Dad was convicted and sentenced to jail, and the rest of the family had to cope. In order to pay the lawyers and settle Dad’s debts, Mom had to sell their house and luxury goods (goodbye stereo). Then Mom, Brett, and his sister moved in with an aunt.
Mom could make Brett get a job at a burger joint to start a college fund, but she couldn’t force him to show up on time or keep him from expressing his arrogant attitude and general anger. A chance encounter with Alfie, the elderly man who used to clean his family’s pool, leads to an alternative job option, which Brett decides to take after a confrontation with his boss.
He figures anything is better than flipping burgers, but it takes him a while to get used to the actual demands of the job, particularly the rule about never swimming in clients’ pools. Over the summer, Alfie teaches Brett how to drive, drink coffee, and appreciate international foods, and also a little here and there about life and forgiveness.

This is a really good book, with believable characters in believable situations. Brett’s personal growth is handled very well, progressing from general anger at the world (and specifically his father) to the point where he is able to begin to forgive.

Miss Alaineus: A Vocabulary Disaster

Author/Illustrator: Debra Frasier

Sage got a cold at exactly the wrong time—she missed school on Tuesday, which is when Mrs. Page always assigns the vocabulary list for the week. That night, Sage called her friend, Starr, to get the word list. Unfortunately, Starr had to hurry because her mom was waiting for her, so she forgot to spell the last word (which sounded like Miss Alaineus). When Mrs. Page called on her in class, Sage gave a definition she thought was at least close, but suddenly everyone was laughing! Luckily, she found a way to turn her humiliating mistake (Miss Stake?) into a great costume for the Vocabulary Parade, and even won a trophy for her original take on "miscellaneous."

This is a fun book, with lots of wordplay in names. The illustrations are in bright colors on notebook paper, and Frasier uses the lines to good effect with stripes and patterns in different orientations. Besides the main storyline, Sage wrote 26 sentences (each using three words starting with one letter of the alphabet--for extra credit) about her dilemma. Sage is a fifth-grader, but the story will resonate with any child who has to write vocabulary definitions.

Coming Soon

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