The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney

Barnholdt, Lauren. The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney. 2007. J BAR

So suppose your parents send you away for the summer to a far away town while they works some things out. You make a new friend. You could tell her about your life as it is- or you can make up a new life. Who’s to know if your life is really as great as you tell it? Unless your new friend unexpectedly shows up in your class, wants to meet the guy you said was your boyfriend (who happens to be the most popular guy in school) and eat lunch with all your cool friends (who previously didn’t know you were alive). Say she also wants to hang out with you all after school.

p. 48-49: Devon's life gets even more complicated in the arcade.

Can Devon hang out with the cool kids while keeping her best friend Mel happy? How long can she keep up appearances? Will anyone find out? And what will they do about it? Can life ever go back to normal?


Yay: Devon’s family, too, is made up of round, true-to-life characters. While they have resolved many of their marital problems over the summer, they still struggle. Devon, likewise, struggles with the fear that they will divorce after all. While her mother is over-protective, Devon understands why, and while Devon reacts to this over- protectiveness as many other tweens might (by protesting and, at times, sneaking around behind her mother’s back), her understanding of her mother’s reasoning both paints a mature if rather flawed character and helps elucidate the mysterious world of adults for the reader.

The new girl, Lexi, fits in with the popular crowd because she follows certain rules of style and etiquette, yet she is an unquestionably loyal friend to Devon, and all around a genuinely nice person. The story revolves not around Devon’s quest for popularity, but rather her struggle to control the damage from a major mistake and salvage two friendships it endangers.

Boo: The male characters are one-sided, being either insensitive jerks or heart-breakingly sweet, but otherwise lacking personalities.

Verdict:
Devon’s story of lies to cover up lies is nothing new. Neither is the story of the unpopular kid who suddenly realizes she has a chance at popularity and struggles to keep up other friendships. Perhaps it is sheer frustration that keeps the reader reading

(right here! She could tell the truth right here! AAAARRRGGGH! Don’t be so stupid!)

Or maybe it is certain exceptions to the genre stereotype. The plot’s constant ups and downs make it difficult to put this book down. My husband kept asking me while I was gasping and, after filling him in on the plot, he had to finish reading the book with me. This doesn’t happen often.

The Sisters Grimm: Fairytale Detectives

Buckley, Michael. The Sisters Grimm: The Fairytale Detectives. 2005. J FIC BUC

Daphne and Sabrina Grimm have been shuttled from foster home to foster home since their parents mysteriously disappeared a year and a half ago. When they are brought to Fairyport Landing, to live with a woman who claims to be their grandmother, Sabrina plans for them to escape, just as they have before. After all, their grandmother is supposed to be dead, and the woman seems crazy. She cooks Technicolor spaghetti. She locks her front door with dozens of locks. She talks to her house. She has books with titles like 365 Ways to Cook Dragon. And she appears to believe in giants. But as the story progresses, evidence surfaces to suggest that perhaps their granny isn’t so crazy after all.

p. 61- 63: description of house destroyed in giant’s footprint

But giants are just the beginning. Soon Sabrina and Daphne find themselves face to face with pixies, princes, good witches, bad witches, and policemen that turn into pigs. Pick up The Sister’s Grimm: The Fairy-tale Detectives to find out how Fairyport Landing got to be so full of fairytale characters- and why so many of them want Sabrina and Daphne dead.

Yay: Lots of humor mixed with deeper issues: Freedom, family, how to trust when your trust has been betrayed umpteen billion times, Good guys that seem like bad guys, bad guys who seem like good guys…

Boo: Have we had our fill of fractured fairy tales yet? I’ve heard plenty of people rage at Peter Jackson for his seemingly trying to add more dimension to Faramir’s character in The Lord of the Rings by making him flirt pretty heavily with evil (and then inexplicably give it up). Sometimes, can’t the good guys just be good guys? Don’t we need a little heroism now and then? Something to look up to?

Verdict: Overall, while amusing and engaging, it seemed a little stale. I am told that the books get better as the series progresses and the politics of Fairyport Landing are developed.