Truly Devious by Maureen JohnsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I knew going into this book that it was in the young adult genre and I'm an old adult. So this shouldn't have been a book for me. And yet, I read this author's The Name of the Star and really enjoyed it, so I was willing to give this one a chance. I loved this one too.
Stevie Bell is a kid that I'd like to spend time with. She a mystery buff, a fan of true crime, and an aspiring detective. She's also a teenage girl with extremely different values from her parents. So she takes a chance and submits an application to the Ellingham Academy, an exclusive school designed for students with unusual talents and goals.
”This box contained the bare necessities of her life: her mystery novels. (At least a carefully curated selection of a few dozen essentials.) These were lovingly arranged on the bookshelf in the order in which she needed to see them. Sherlock Holmes on top with Wilkie Collins. Then Agatha Christie spread over two shelves, leading into Josephine Tey and Dorothy L. Sayers. She stood back and examined the overall effect, then tweaked until the arrangement was just right. Where her books were, she was. Get the books right and the rest will follow.”
Who can't love a girl like that? Stevie is different from Rory in The Name of the Star, who had more social skills and is better equipped to deal with boys. But both have gone to unfamiliar schools though and found themselves in the middle of complex situations. So far, in Truly Devious, there are none of the paranormal aspects that made TNOTS special. The ending of this novel draws you on to the next book and this series seems to have more oomph than the first one, which seems to have just petered out. The second two books didn't manage to hold on to the charm of the first volume. I have a hunch that this series will hold up better. Johnson learned something from that effort.
I must confess that I'm developing a similar small book collection to Stevie's, designed to move with me into seniors' housing when that need arrives. The hard part is keeping it trimmed down to a reasonable number, not something easy for a woman who loves books immoderately.
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