BOOKS FOR CHILDREN: FICTION
The Mystery of the
A Hazel Frump Adventure
By
Harper Trophy
240 pages, $15.99
In Torontonian
In the course of their investigations, they unknowingly unleash a complicated chain of events that includes kidnapping, art theft and the unearthing of long-lost relatives. Largely set against the picturesque backdrop of
Lanthier's writing is strong; she doesn't talk down to young readers and she never takes the story into superficial territory, two common pitfalls for writers appealing to this age group. At the beginning of the book, the situation is so tangled it seems as if Hazel and Ned will never be able to figure out what's going on and who the bad guys are. Then they deftly proceed to untangle things in such a way that the reader is left feeling that they could handle anything without the help of adults (who mostly seem to flake off and get in the way).
Hazel's last name, Frump, is oddly misleading, and for the first few chapters, I couldn't help picturing a couple of frumpy old ladies running around solving crimes -- kind of distracting, considering the main characters are kids. But after a while the oddness grew on me. Lanthier's playing with names a little. Preternaturally intelligent little Ned's name is likely a nod to Nancy Drew's ubiquitous boyfriend and sidekick, Ned Nickerson.
With the two main characters, Lanthier's also doing something interesting with gender stereotypes. Hazel's a basketball fanatic who responds physically to situations, while Ned is more thoughtful and cautious. When a budding relationship begins to emerge between Hazel and a local boy named Hank, he's the one who bats his "long eyelashes" and seems to like her precisely because she's a brave tomboy. And her reaction isn't to fall head over heels, it's to suspect he's up to something -- after all, why else would he be nice to her?
Hazel and Ned are quite mature for their ages, so mature that at times the reader might forget they're children, who would probably be more interested in hanging out with friends during the holidays than at their computers doing research on-line. Bizarre factoids pop out of their brains, such as knowing what exactly a
When they're arguing, Lanthier has chosen to make them use substitute swear words like "heck," instead of real words. But she's working within the genre's conventions, and many readers will actually be grateful for her choices. If not, well, any slips are quickly forgiven because they further delightful plot twists.
Any author who thanks Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Lanthier does in her acknowledgments, has to be thinking about the mystery genre in an innovative way. So Hazel has disturbing dreams that tell her if something bad is about to occur. However, unlike Buffy, nothing too terrible ever happens. The danger level is on par with Nancy Drew's escapades, which is a refreshing change from the ultra-realistic brutality of many teen novels.
While the book is written for young readers, it ought to engage their parents as well. Lanthier takes all the time she needs to spin a complicated mystery with twists and red herrings. At 240 pages, the book's as long as an adult novel, so it's heftier than usual for this age group. Sometimes, obscure details feel a little like "learning material" that a young reader might skip over in order to get straight to the action. But then, she might also pick up a nugget of knowledge or two along the way.
Lanthier certainly deserves kudos here. Her background is as a journalist and biotechnology reporter, yet she's pulled off an energetic, well-paced mystery novel. Her style's as lively as her basketball-loving heroine. It's no surprise the author's made her protagonist play the game, considering she coaches a girls' team in real life, and apparently hasn't missed a single Raptors home game --she's even wearing one of their jerseys in her author's photo.
By the end of The Mystery of the Martello Tower, the reader's so swept up in Hazel and Ned's lives that their only concern will be to wonder what's up next for the intrepid detectives. Where will their future adventures lead them? We'll have to tune in to the next instalment to find out.
Emily Pohl-Weary is the author of the young-adult mystery Strange Times at Western High.