Rating: WORTHY!
So this is a novel by a writer with two first names, and it was hilarious. I don’t know if the kids will get the subtle humor in play here, but the way this was written was – apologies for the gendered term – masterful. It was illustrated by Kathrina Iris – also two first names. What’s going on here? Girls are taking over!
So Caleb and Logan are intent upon starting a secret club with no girls allowed (or even a loud as they write in their charter). Everything goes spiffingly well until they need to elect a president. The problem is that the voting always seems to end up evenly divided between the two candidates - even if they aren’t allowed to vote for themselves! Bringing in Caleb’s little brother Jonah doesn’t help. Finally they have to recruit Logan’s twin sister Isabella as an honorary junior member of the no-girls club, and vote again. Isabella wins. Wait, what?
See what I mean? This story is choice and priceless. I recommend it completely, for the illustrations and for the beautifully-written text. Robbie Burns, in the penultimate stanza of his poem Tae a Moose, had this to say: “The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley” (this is the poem which delightfully begins, “Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie”) and I think it works just as well if you substitute ‘boys’ for ‘men’. This one is a winner! I haven’t read any others in the ‘secret tree house club’ series, but if they’re anything like this, they’re a must-read!
