Room One: a Mystery or Two

Room One: a Mystery or Two
Andrew Clements
Scholastic, 2006 168 pages
Grades 3-6
Mystery

Amateur detective, paperboy, and independent boy scout, Ted Hammond, is the sole student in sixth grade in his one-class school. Ted's small Nebraskan town is shrinking as families move away after losing their farms and local businesses are forced to close. The school and the whole town itself is in danger of fading away. As Ted pedals by yet another abandoned farmhouse while delivering his papers, he is shocked to see a face in the attic window. Further investigation after school reveals a girl around his age named April. April confesses that her father died in the middle east and her mother was being harassed by a former friend of her father’s and didn't feel safe. Mom, April and her little brother have run away and are now in hiding. Ted agrees to help the little family by bringing them food and other supplies. He finally brings his teacher in on his secret and she promises to help. When the police are seen at the abandoned farm and April's family is missing, Ted fears that his teacher betrayed him. He must use his detective skills to find the whereabouts of the family in order to connect them to the help they need. Ted does locate them and develops a plan to save the day and maybe the whole town. The plan does not go exactly as Ted has hoped, but it does serve as a catalyst for positive change.

Clements, the master of the school story, pens a mystery with social undertones. This is not a conventional mystery. Ted longs to be a detective and to find some real excitement in his sleepy town. His keen observational skills lead him to the family in crisis and he does use his detective abilities to locate them a second time. Ted learns the valuable lesson that real life is not as clean-cut as a case in one of his stories. It is complicated, messy, and unpredictable. Ted's best efforts may seem like a fail, but ultimately lead the town to a different solution. Clements highlights the plight of the mid-western farmer and the slow death of the American farming community. He educates the reader about the New Homestead Act, a proposed solution to resettling abandoned farmland, which has been talked about, but has yet to come to fruition. Other themes explored in this book are society's need to take care of veteran families, mental illness in custodial parents, combating loneliness, and finding a trusted adult when the problem is too big for a kid. Young readers will love the idea of a one-class school. It is also cool that Ted is the only student in his grade. He moves the desks to make a fort in the middle of the classroom where he can explore his many interests. Children will immediately identify with Ted and put themselves in his shoes as he tries to help April, struggles with his solitary existence, and faces many important decisions. This book reads quickly and will appeal to a wide audience. Small pencil illustrations, contributed by Chris Blair, do not particularly add to the story, but will satisfy readers who are more comfortable with some added visuals. The ending is not the one the readers will be expecting, but remains satisfying and positive.