I love to read books that challenge me and this one certainly keeps the reader right on his or her toes all the way to the end. Using each chapter to present the point of view of each spelling bee participant we read about one class as they prepare for the annual spelling bee. This is an event which impacts on the whole town and which can make or break friendships and even lead to high levels of corruption.Our main narrator is Chrissy, the town detective. Observing her classmates she has uncovered a huge scandal. The School Principal seems to be planning to rig the spelling bee.
Each chapter heading is a word definition which then ties into the chapter and each chapter is told by one of the major players including the students, the Principal and the ever smiling school secretary Mrs Rosemary!
My favourite character is Mutual a boy who up until now has been home schooled. He convinces his parents that to enter the Spelling Bee you need to be enrolled in a regular school. His mum and dad are fearful of corruption and germs and bad examples but they are also desperate to have their only son crowned as a champion in the Bee so they allow him to attend Gordon Liddy Community School.
If you like the writing of EL Konigsburg. Blue Baylett, Betsy Byars, Carl Hiessan, or Louis Sacher then you will love I put a Spell on you. Check out the author site. You can even read whole chapters. Mr K also has a terrific review of this book which should convince you this is a great book.
1 comment:
Glad you liked it! Jennifer, Mutual, and a couple of other characters will be back this fall in a book called EXTRAORDINARY. I could never talk my publishers into a "spell" sequel, but they were open to a follow-up to one of my other books, I KISSED A ZOMBIE AND I LIKED IT, so I wrote that using the characters from SPELL as seniors in high school. Should be out in November!
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