Skip to main content

The Danger Box

By

by Blue Balliett
Scholastic, 2010. 304 pgs. Fiction.


Zoomy lives with his grandmother and grandfather in Three Oaks, Michigan, because his father is jail bait who doesn't know he exists and his mother left him on their doorstep when he was a baby. Zoomy has Pathological Myopia and is legally blind. He likes to make lists in notebooks, using a purple pen. Suddenly his life is complicated by the appearance of his father, driving a stolen red pickup truck with an odd-looking box on the seat. "Dad" stashes the box in the garage and drives off, but not before being a jerk to the son he didn't know he had. In this way, Zoomy and his new friend Lorrol are drawn into a mystery--is the old notebook Zoomy finds in the box meaningless or a priceless artifact? Will Zoomy's icky father take him away from his beloved Gam and Gumps? And what does his and Lorrol's increasing interest in Charles Darwin have to do with it all? Blue Balliett's sparkling new puzzle/mystery is a rich layering of science, humanity, suspense, and family feeling. Demonized by many, Charles Darwin emerges here as a man of extraordinary curiosity, intellect, sensitivity and soul, and as Grandma Chamberlain wisely observes: " . . . why can't a person believe in both evolution and God? It's salt and pepper." A beautifully well-written story that should appeal to a wide range of children (and their parents).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Display: Out of this World Books Found Here

By
Hello By Aiko Ikegami Berkeley, CA: Creston Books, 2019. Picture book. In this wordless picture book, an alien visits Earth, makes friends with a little girl, and returns to his home planet to share his experiences. - Publisher We Are Definitely Human By X. Fang Toronto: Tundra Books, 2024. Picture book. When three mysterious visitors from "Europe" crash-land in Mr. Li's field, he does what any good host would: he invites them back to his farmhouse and offers to help fix up their "car". No, there's nothing strange about these guests at all. Just like other humans, they "make business", "play sportsball" and "wear hat". As the townsfolk also come to the aid of the visitors and the gathering turns into a little party, interplanetary relations reach an all-time high. - Publisher Greetings Floof! Written by C.J. Hong Illustrated by A.J. Smith Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2024. Picture book. Floof from planet Ploof has landed! And it...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like...Dungeons and Dragons

By
Great news for adventurous, imaginative tweens: we are starting a Dungeons & Dragons program! Nine- to twelve-year-olds are invited to join a tabletop role playing quest in the Story Room on Monday September 14 from 6:30-8:00PM. All experience levels are welcome. Registration opens on September 1 at 9:00AM. In the meantime, here are some books to inspire your upcoming campaign!  The Lionharts Written and Illustrated by Mike Lawrence New York : Abrams Fanfare, 2026. J Comic. 233 pages. The Lionhart family is in the business of adventuring. Alder and Flynt are desperate to be included in the dragon-fighting and monster-slaying quests. When their parents Lenna and Gerard go missing after accepting a mysterious job, the boys set out to save them, soon followed by their famous questing Grammy and Baba to help keep Alder and Flynt out of trouble. The journey brings challenges and opportunities, magic and mystery, but it also reveals a troubling family secret that threatens to tear th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Mixed-Up Owl

By
The Mixed-Up Owl  Written by Marzena Sowa Illustrated by Joanna Lorno New York : Hippo Park, 2025. Picture Book. When Owl can't sleep at night, he heads off to see if any forest animals can help him understand why, and even more so, how to fix it!  Unfortunately, all the animals Owl runs into at night are asleep and all the animals he meets during the day are too rude or too busy to answer him.  Will Owl give up or will a chance meeting with a grumpy hedgehog provide all the solutions Owl was looking for? The premise of an owl trying to stay awake during the day because all the other animals around him do is very fun. Kids who know that owls are nocturnal will get a kick out of Owl's confusion and be quick to try to tell him what's going on.  Readers who don't know many facts about owls (or nocturnal animals in general) will get a brief introduction to the different ways animals sleep. The illustrations are charming, especially cute Owl and his expressive body langua...
Post a Comment
Read more