by MAC
ages 8+

Throw Nancy Drew, an action movie, a couple of graphic novels, Dr. Phil and a bunch of talented (and precocious) 11-year-olds in a blender, mix them up, you’d have… a mess. No, really, what’d you get is something pretty close to Anna Smudge. And, just for the record, it’s a whole lotta fun.

Donny “The Meatball” Fratelli has escaped from prison. Anna’s sixth grade art teacher, Mrs. Summer has gone insance, yelling about knowing who “Mr. Who”, a legendary (but mysterious) crime boss, is. Anna’s life is complex enough: she has to deal with her parents being gone because of business all the time, in addition to being bullied at school. Her two worlds intersect, though, when she discovers her true talent: being a shrink, and one of her clients turns out to be none other than The Meatball himself. Add a bit of mystery — who really is Mr. Who? — a lot of adventure — horse chases, breaking into abandoned gymnasiums, and being trapped in the Holland Tunnel — and you’ve got a quite the book.

I liked that it was fast-paced and entertaining. It read a bit like a movie, which isn’t a bad thing sometimes. Especially in a mystery/adventure novel; because of the way it was written, it managed to grab and keep my attention. There wasn’t anything deep or searching about it, but I thought it was a lot of fun. Additionally, I really 0liked the characters, especially Anna and her friends: Quenton (the chef), Rachel (the reporter) , Amy (the secretary), Todd (the artist), and Clea (the photographer). It’s a stylized book with a stylized concept, but it worked for me. Enough so, that I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Quenton Cohen: Professional Chef, due out May 2009.

(Just for the record: because this is a Cybils nominee, I’ve been asked to make sure y’all know this is my opinion only, and not that of the panel.)