Now this was a book I REALLY enjoyed! There were so many different layers to this one for a middle grade reader. I did have a couple of concerns as well, but the overall effect of the book was great. This is a mystery, which I honestly didn't realize when I started it. It is told both in the present and with flashbacks to the past... very well done. I even liked the little detail of making the pages of the book with those parts different colours with the flashback pages being a sort of grey colour. The flashbacks not only give us insight into the mystery, but also into a period in the southern US (a lot of it in the 1950s) when relations between blacks and white was even more divided and strained than it is currently... or at least different for sure.
Yes, this is a mystery and it does get solved, but it's so much more than that! There are discussions to be had on friendship, family, secrets, identity, sexuality, race and racism, and so much more. There is a lot packed into this book for sure and so many great discussions that I think would come out of this story!
My concerns were that there are a lot of characters to keep track of and some kids might lose interest because of that. When the flashbacks first started in the book and more people were being introduced, I felt like I needed to start a sociogram to keep track of them all for myself even! The other thing was that there were times were the mystery itself seemed to be "solved" through the flashbacks themselves (where the 2 main characters aren't even there) or that there were leaps in conclusion with the problem solving of the mystery. Now, I totally get it, but there were a few points where I went back and reread bits to see if I missed how they got from one point to another, but I hadn't; it just wasn't clearly explained. I don't think this will bother kids at all and they'll just keep reading.
Overall...
Happy Reading,
Mrs. Heidrich