Agatha befriended Orville in the second grade because she couldn’t stand how Orville was getting bullied. Five years later, in an ironic twist, Orville just might be her entree into the popular crowd. The football team needs some technical help with a major stunt they want to pull for an upcoming game and they think Orville is the guy to work out all the details. Since Orville doesn’t really deal with outsiders, they recruit Agatha too. Agatha is in heaven, she finally has a chance to be cool. But at the big game, the prank goes horribly wrong. What was meant to be a few sparks seems to have turned into a huge fire. Agatha is certain the fire can’t be due to a mistake on Orville’s part, but then, if it wasn’t his fault, whose was it? She and Orville are determined to get to the bottom of the mystery.
As a mystery goes, this was pretty average. What sets it apart from other books is that Orville has Asperger’s Syndrome. This is dealt with in a very warm and accessible way. He does face bullying, but has a dear friend and protector in Agatha. Best of all, it’s not an “issues” book. It’s just a regular mystery which happens to feature a character with Asperger’s Syndrome.
I found the writing underwhelming at points, highlights include: “If I was”, a rather bizarre reuse of the phrase “silver bird of popularity” and a slightly off analogy,”straight as Cousin Wong’s hair”.
Although the characters are in seventh grade, the reading level would be fine for strong readers in third grade. The book’s content would be appropriate for a younger audience, and may even seem young for on-level seventh grade readers. I’m setting the ideal audience for this as Grades 4-6, especially students that prefer reading not be strenuous.
Great for: Showing a friendship between a character with Asperger’s Syndrome and a neurotypical peer.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – In trying to describe Orville’s single minded nature, Agatha points out that you could dance around naked in front of him without him noticing. Agatha has a crush on a football player, as do other people. Another girl is mad because a boy broke his date with her.
Profanity – “doo-doo head”, “retardo,” “retarded,” “jerk,” “dweeb,” “shut up,” “freak,” “morons,” “idiot,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Agatha threw her backpack at a boy. A fire gets out of hand and poses a danger to many people. One girls worries that people could have been killed (everyone was fine). Agatha threatens a bully with a bloody nose. Two boys have a fist fight.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
