I’m going to be honest. I was afraid to read this book. Shelley Tougas and I share an agent, the wonderful Susan Hawk, and I wasn’t sure how I’d feel if I hated it. The good news is that not only did I not hate it, I LOVED it. Seriously, she had me on the opening page:
DEAR JUDGE HENRY,
I will tell you three things right now.
Number one: I’m almost twelve years old. I do not want to go to prison, even if it’s a prison for kids.
Number two: Nobody calls me Aurora Dawn Bauer, not even my grandma, and she’s the most legal person I know. Everyone calls me Daisy.
Number three: Your face looks like squirrels flopped their tails where your eyebrows should be. I can’t tell if your eyes ever laugh, but you were all business when you told me to write this, and—
UGH. Mom just peeked over my shoulder and said, “Erase that stuff about his weird eyebrows or we’ll have more trouble. I mean it!” I went to my room and slammed the door. She’s a snoop.
Talk about a great opener! The rest of the book is just as charming. The Graham Cracker Plot does a terrific job of mixing the farcical with reality, humor with poignancy, as you follow the adventures of Daisy and her frenemy Graham in their attempt to break Daisy’s father out of prison. It’s not as outlandish as you might think, it’s a minimum security prison after all. Along the way you’ll meet interesting characters, see Daisy and Graham get themselves into all sorts of trouble, and watch as Daisy learns the truth about her dad and what taking responsibility for your actions really means.
This book has a lot of heart and plenty of fun. Do yourself a favor and read it.
[…] year, I posted a review of Shelley Tougas’ book, The Graham Cracker Plot. I really loved it and was excited to see […]