The Dragon in the Ghetto Caper [Paperback]

E.L. Konigsburg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1985

Determined to be a famous detective, Andy goes to the ghetto where he encounters crime for the first time, only to discover he is on the wrong side in the case.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the first of these two works by a consummately witty writer, a suburban kid who wants to be a detective teams up with a lonely bride; in the second, a famous but dead actress sends two social outcasts on a quest. Ages 8-12; 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Booklist Like Konigsburg's other books, this is strong on dialogue and insightful suggestions into what makes people -- both the older and younger varieties -- tick. -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Yearling (May 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440421489
• ISBN-13: 978-0440421481
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,070,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

E. L. Konigsburg is the only author to have won the Newbery Medal and be runner-up in the same year. In 1968 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler won the Newbery Medal and Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was named Newbery Honor Book. Almost thirty years later she won the Newbery Medal once again for The View From Saturday. She has also written and illustrated three picture books: Samuel Todd's Book of Great Colors, Samuel Todd's Book of Great Inventions, and Amy Elizabeth Explores Bloomingdale's. In 2000 she wrote Silent to the Bone, which was named a New York Times Notable Book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, among many other honors.

After completing her degree at Carnegie Mellon University, Ms. Konigsburg did graduate work in organic chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. For several years she taught science at a private girls' school. When the third of her three children started kindergarten, she began to write. She now lives on the beach in North Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars I didn't care for it all that much, May 29, 2011

By 

Wayne S. Walker "Home School Book Review" (Salem, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dragon In The Ghetto Caper (Paperback)

Andrew Jackson Chronister is almost twelve and is in sixth grade at Emerson Country Day School. He lives with his father, mother, and soon to be married older sister in the Foxmeadow subdivision of Gainesboro. Andy likes to draw dragons, but his main goal is to be a famous, tough, and cool detective. However, he needs a sidekick. His new, zany neighbor, Edie Yakots, shares his love of dragons and wants to be his sidekick because she needs something to do all week while her husband is gone.
To get out of the house, Edie has tried the garden club but found that all the ladies want to do is talk rather than plant flowers. At first Andy helps her in her own garden but then joins her every Thursday afternoon when she drives an elderly woman, Sister Henderson whom she met while buying an old pew at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church rummage sale, so that she can visit friends and run errands in the ghetto where she lives. Andy has never been in the ghetto before. But one day, he sees a strange car following them and decides that someone is trying to rob Sister Henderson. His first crime! Can he solve the mystery? Or will he, Edie, and Sister Henderson get caught?
This is an interesting story, although at times it had a little trouble holding my attention. Konigsburg has also written Newbery Medal winners From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1968), a Newbery Medal winner which I read and enjoyed, and The View from Saturday (1997), and the Newbery Honor book Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth (1968), neither of which I have read. The biggest problem for me was the annoyingly ubiquitous but profane exclamation "For God's sake," which appears on 38 of the 124 pages, sometimes used by the author in description and sometimes by Andy in conversation. There are a few euphemisms (including "darn" which is specifically said to be "a substitute for damn." Andy is a little impertinent at times and at Mary Jane's wedding party drinks enough champagne that he passes out. It seems at the end there is a little sympathy for the actual crooks, but they do get their punishment. The dragons are a symbol of the challenging parts of life. All in all, it is not a bad book, but I really didn't care for it that much.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, April 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dragon In The Ghetto Caper (Paperback)

Very kind story. One of my favorite of Konigsberg's many lovely books for children, which I continue to read, reread, and (re)discover as an adult.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars it was okay, April 12, 2004

By 

danielle (canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dragon in the Ghetto Caper (Paperback)

This book started out slow paced and didn't pick up speed. It was an okay book but it was quite boring and slow paced and that's all I have to say.