The London Eye Mystery
Sioban Dowd
Because of a neurological condition with which he was born, Ted doesn't process the world at large the same as we, or even his family, will. It is precisely because of this, however, that he and his sister become their aunt's only hope when her son goes up in the London Eye, but never comes down. Together, the siblings will follow leads and ask their own questions while Ted's brilliant mind sorts all the facts as only he can in the hopes that they will find their cousin before it is too late.
This book was recommended to me months and months ago, oddly enough, at a tea party. The young lady offering it was a student teacher and the text itself was a piece of required reading for her class. Ever eager for the chance to find some new bit of awesomeness, I wrote down the suggestion and promptly lost it. Over the next few weeks, I couldn't seem to either A: remember the title or author, or B: find the book when I could. Eventually, it turned up to be available at a Barnes and Noble I was visiting with a friend in North[?] Carolina, but it was in poor condition and I could not fathom its purchase. [I am a snob--if I'm buying a book listed as new, I want it to actually look new. Sheesh. I found other things to buy anyway.] Then, a couple of weeks ago, my roomie went on a library run and was able to get the book out for me to read! Needless to say, after the wait, I was thrilled to finally have my mits on it. I was even more thrilled, however when I read the book.
Like so many stories anymore, The London Eye Mystery is told first person by the protagonist [Ted]. He's a younger boy and does relate the story from his precise point of view, which means it is funneled through his lens before we get a crack at the information. I worried early on that this concept had the potential to be a great hindrance to the text, but as I got through even the first chapter, I realized that it was, instead, a great help. Because we were seeing through Ted, we got a clear picture of his very small world, filled with meteorological facts and information, as well as estranged observations about the purportedly normal humans around him. He wonders about their facial expressions which denote their emotions, something he is only just learning to read properly. He wonders about their reactions and thoughts and obscure tendancies, allowing the reader to get almost a clinical examination of tics and triggers that they themselves might have. [Honestly, it kind of made me wonder what I seem to the public at large.]
The mystery itself is in the tradition of most all popular mysteries--a big thing happens and the big guns go to take care of it, because it's what they do. However, it's the underdogs and left out that get the clues and sort it all out in the end. Even through their youthful mistakes, it's easy to root for Ted and Kat on their mission. Being told from first person, we get clues as Ted gets them, which allows for personal deductions on the part of the reader, which, in turn, allows for greater interaction with the text at hand.
Well concieved, constructed and executed, The London Eye Mystery is well worth a read. Enough so that, after I finished it, my roomie went ahead and read it before returning it. She ended up then purchasing her own copy, which means I don't have to!
Sioban Dowd
Because of a neurological condition with which he was born, Ted doesn't process the world at large the same as we, or even his family, will. It is precisely because of this, however, that he and his sister become their aunt's only hope when her son goes up in the London Eye, but never comes down. Together, the siblings will follow leads and ask their own questions while Ted's brilliant mind sorts all the facts as only he can in the hopes that they will find their cousin before it is too late.
This book was recommended to me months and months ago, oddly enough, at a tea party. The young lady offering it was a student teacher and the text itself was a piece of required reading for her class. Ever eager for the chance to find some new bit of awesomeness, I wrote down the suggestion and promptly lost it. Over the next few weeks, I couldn't seem to either A: remember the title or author, or B: find the book when I could. Eventually, it turned up to be available at a Barnes and Noble I was visiting with a friend in North[?] Carolina, but it was in poor condition and I could not fathom its purchase. [I am a snob--if I'm buying a book listed as new, I want it to actually look new. Sheesh. I found other things to buy anyway.] Then, a couple of weeks ago, my roomie went on a library run and was able to get the book out for me to read! Needless to say, after the wait, I was thrilled to finally have my mits on it. I was even more thrilled, however when I read the book.
Like so many stories anymore, The London Eye Mystery is told first person by the protagonist [Ted]. He's a younger boy and does relate the story from his precise point of view, which means it is funneled through his lens before we get a crack at the information. I worried early on that this concept had the potential to be a great hindrance to the text, but as I got through even the first chapter, I realized that it was, instead, a great help. Because we were seeing through Ted, we got a clear picture of his very small world, filled with meteorological facts and information, as well as estranged observations about the purportedly normal humans around him. He wonders about their facial expressions which denote their emotions, something he is only just learning to read properly. He wonders about their reactions and thoughts and obscure tendancies, allowing the reader to get almost a clinical examination of tics and triggers that they themselves might have. [Honestly, it kind of made me wonder what I seem to the public at large.]
The mystery itself is in the tradition of most all popular mysteries--a big thing happens and the big guns go to take care of it, because it's what they do. However, it's the underdogs and left out that get the clues and sort it all out in the end. Even through their youthful mistakes, it's easy to root for Ted and Kat on their mission. Being told from first person, we get clues as Ted gets them, which allows for personal deductions on the part of the reader, which, in turn, allows for greater interaction with the text at hand.
Well concieved, constructed and executed, The London Eye Mystery is well worth a read. Enough so that, after I finished it, my roomie went ahead and read it before returning it. She ended up then purchasing her own copy, which means I don't have to!
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