When you are fourteen and your parents want to move,
you don’t have much choice in the matter. Tracy Denton is that fourteen year
old and she is not happy at all about moving with the family to Stonesthrow, Missouri.
This move was the idea of her parents, Jack and Ellen Denton, who have big
plans for the old house and small farm. For Tracy, none of her friends are
around, the new house is an old dirty one that needs lots of work, and there is
nothing fun to do or kids her age as she can see nobody around. The only thing
nearby seems to be an old barn.
She soon learns that old barn is a great vantage
point to see what is going on all around the area. It is there where 14 year
old Tracy will meet the slightly older Harley Peebles. Thanks to Harley, Tracy
will meet the Haney Twins as well as be involved in a mystery that goes back
decades.
The
Necklace by Shirley McCann is billed as a middle
grade mystery. While the main characters are teens, this mystery is not at all written
for the teen audience and does not remotely read like a teen book. Instead, it
is written for adult readers with adult sensibilities. One small example of
this is this early passage in Chapter One where Tracy deals with her reaction
to being spooked by bull frogs in the nearby pond.
“Not nearly as much as
they scared me,” I remarked softly. Embarrassed, I looked away, pretending to
conduct a mental survey of the area, before summoning the courage to face him
again. I turned back, hoping the color in my cheeks had returned to its normal
shade. (Kindle Locations 85-87).
Then there is this example early in Chapter Two:
“By the time I returned from the loft
yesterday afternoon, my parents had already assembled and made the beds. They
had also deposited numerous boxes into each room of the house. At their
request, I helped line the kitchen cabinets with decorative shelf paper. Then I
rummaged through the boxes marked “kitchen”, distributing plates, cups, and
saucers into the designated areas. (Kindle Locations 170-173).
 |
| Paperback from iUniverse |
While readers are told
that this is a 14 year old girl, the actions and thoughts of Tracy Denton throughout
the book suggest something entirely different. Instead of a teen girl, the
impression of the character is one of a middle aged conservative woman. She does
not see the world as a teen would nor does she ever respond to anything as a
teen would. The same is true for the other teen characters throughout the book.
All of the characters in the book, teen and adult, display the same adult
thought process and mature action far beyond their years. Instead of being the
middle grade book it is marketed as The Necklace is very much an adult cozy
style novel primarily populated with teens.
Which is not to say it isn’t a good book. If you ignore the obvious discrepancy between
what the book actually is and how it is portrayed marketing wise, the read
itself is a good one. Tracy and her friends probe a mystery that goes back
quite a few years while doing their best to remain undetected. Author Shirley
McCann has created interesting characters in an interesting situation that
keeps the reader turning the pages. While not a book that will appeal to its
intended audience The Necklace is very much an enjoyable read.
The
Necklace
Shirley
McCann
Self-Published
May
2011
ASIN:
B0050UQGGM
E-Book
(also available as a paperback)
108
Pages
$0.99
Material was picked up during the author’s recent
free book promotion for my use in an objective review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
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