Ben H. Winters
HarperCollins, 2010 247 pages
Grades 4-7
Mystery
Mr. Melville, a notoriously tricky teacher, assigns a special
project to his seventh grade social studies class: find a mystery in your
life-and solve it. After much consideration Bethesda targets the school's music
teacher, Ms. Finkleman. No one knows absolutely anything about her. Bethesda
makes it her mission to solve the mystery behind Ms. Finkleman's personal life
and hits pay-dirt when she discovers that her mousy teacher was formally
in a punk band. After the presentation the entire school is impressed,
including the principal. She decides that Ms. Finkleman must change the format
of the big chorus competition to Rock and Roll and include her own musical
persona in the show. Ms Finkleman strikes a deal with class slacker, Tenny. She
forces him to help her mold the new recruits into three proper Rock and Roll
outfits in exchange for Bethesda, who owes her for exposing her secret, to
tutor him to passing grades in social studies. Sounds straight forward, right?
But why does the former rocker need Tenny's help and why isn't she more
interested in the process? Secrets are revealed, lives are changed, and
values are compromised as the countdown to the big show nears an end.
Part school story, part mystery, Winters explores the age old question: "what do teachers do at night?" This answer is generally not very interesting, but not in the case of Ms. Finkleman. What a revelation to discover that your drab chorus teacher is a former punk rocker, only things are not as they seem and there is more to the story. Along the path to digging up the truth the students at Mary Todd Lincoln Middle School learn that people’s personal life are their own, that cheating is wrong even if it feels like the only answer, that sometimes you need to be honest about who you are even if it disappoints your loved ones, and that rocking out is good for the soul. Many young lives are transformed by the power of music and lives are permanently changed by the whole experience. Winters' book is reminiscent of the work of Andrew Clements. He nails the school experience in a highly readable story that children will both relate to and enjoy. The point of view changes and we get to see the motives and voices of several key players. All of the mysteries are solved by book's end and the characters leave us in a satisfactory place. Readers who enjoy this tale can crack into the sequel, The Mystery of Missing Everything staring the same gang from Mary Todd Lincoln Middle.
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