2.0 out of 5 stars
A just plain poorly written story, February 12, 2008
This review is from: The Case of the Missing Formula (Our Secret Gang) (Paperback)
Shannon Gilligan, author of the "Our Secret Gang" series, is also the author of many "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, specifically ones which are mystery-oriented. I'd liked her work in "Choose Your Own Adventure", as it was well-paced, adventurous, and had many interesting background details to make them feel more alive and "real" than your typical entry in the series.
So I picked this up, curious to see how Shannon Gilligan handled a full-length novel. Sadly, the answer seems to be, not very well. Some of her writing style is easily recognizable, but unfortunately, it doesn't all seem to translate to novel form.
The story is about a group of kids who call themselves "Our Secret Gang", and in addition to being amateur sleuths, are also good friends who have secrets that they share. Secrets such as fear of parental breakup, losing friends, and other kid problems. Definitely a nice backdrop, I'd have to say, as it's nice to see characters that are more "real" in that sense.
As for the kids' sleuthing, they are actually recognized by adults for their detective work, and are trusted by police officers. That's not something I'm too happy with, as for me, part of the fun of amateur sleuthing is when the kid has to find things out without help and try to convince adults of their discovery. Still, I can live with that.
What I can't live with is everything else in the story. There is plenty of dialog that I simply cannot imagine coming out of the mouths of elementary school kids. They use too much professional terminology that real detectives would use, and act too mature for their age.
A local man who has invented a new formula for a soft drink enlists their help in trying to find out whole stole it. Strike two. Adults actively seeking the help of 11-year-olds to solve a problem. I never liked that when I was a kid, and I don't like it now. I wish Shannon had come up with another way to get the plot going, and maybe have the kids covertly decide to help out.
Anyway, the kids do their investigating, seeking out clues and asking direct questions of adults. In the background, a subplot involving family strife starts up, with the main character's younger brothers running away from home. Simple enough.
Things pick up after ironically one of the most boring parts of the story. The kids visit a recycling plant for school, where the criminals happen to be. The book goes into detail about what the kids learn at the recycling plant, and how bored they are, which is ironic, since I was thinking exactly the same thing. The characters may be bored with this sad attempt to inject some education into the proceedings, but I don't need to be! But in true mystery form, a suspicious conversation is overheard, and the bad guys are discovered, only for them to escape.
Near the end, the kids attempt to catch the bad guys more directly, and the action does pick up... during pretty much the only part of the book that even has action or suspense, barring the previous paragraph.
I was very disappointed. Shannon Gilligan's writing worked better in the format of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, as they basically forced her to do things differently. Their format, in which the story would take many twists and turns requiring the reader to make choices, forced her to develop the plot more quickly and put in more action. When Shannon was being forced to put in action and plot twists, she did a pretty good job with it. When she wasn't, and was given a linear novel with which to tell her story, the plot slows to a crawl before only picking up, "Choose Your Own Adventure" style, near the end.
Sadly, I'd have to say that the only thing I took away from this book was a lesson in how format constraints can shape an author's style. Shannon at her best is pretty good. At her worst, she shows but wastes potential.
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