Alane Ferguson

While reading this book, I kept having an odd feeling of deja vu, and it wasn't due to the fact that I read it once before, years ago. It was only after I finished that I realized what it was caused by, and that is that this book reads like a Nancy Drew book. Don't get me wrong, I love Nancy Drew, and still have a shelf full of the books, but 'The Christopher Killer' fits the mold perfectly. Cast of characters are introduced, all of them having something suspicious about them, spunky female teen follows all leads, occasionally getting off track, finds super secret clue, confronts the killer, gets in danger, but in the end, the mystery is solved and Nancy- I mean, Cameron is lauded for her genius. Like I said, I love Nancy Drew, and there are certainly worse things to take a page from, but this book isn't a totally new and spectacular thing. The one thing that sets this book apart is its forensics, and provides the nice, gory details of forensics that are honestly quite interesting. One last thing, is that one of the things the killer uses is not explained totally well. Without venturing in spoiler territory, I know what it is because I work with horses, and I feel like without the background knowledge of what it is, it can seem a bit like a macguffin- the plot purpose fits everything device. This was still a good read, and if you're looking for a good teen mystery that's not full of simpering brats, The Christopher Killer is a good choice.… (more)

READING LEVEL: 5.1 AR POINTS: 5.0
(Ages 8-12, grades 3-7)

This story is just so-so! I thought the story would focus more on whales, but it seemed to focus more on Bindy, the foster girl who everyone thought was literally a big fat liar. Her parents had died and she was adopted by an aunt who had a son. This son was golden-boy. He was a high school football star and very well liked. Bindy, on the other hand, was chunky, heavyset, over ate, all this the author made very clear. Golden-boy had a hidden mean streak and would beat up on Bindy.

Bindy finally got brave enough to tell her Aunt and Uncle but they didn’t believe her. It caused so much trouble in the family that they decided to throw her into the foster system where she would end up with the Landon family, who had two kids Jack and Ashley. Their mother was a scientist who studied the mysterious deaths of sea mammals. She was called to travel to Maine when suddenly there were 12 different varieties of sea mammals washed up onto the shore at Bar Harbor. Most were dead, but few were in the process of being stranded.

Where the story goes a little awry is when the kids find themselves in a dangerous adult crime situation by trying to solve the mystery themselves. There wasn’t too much written about whales, themselves, but the author does add an Afterward on true facts about whales and how sonar causes them to beach. The little bits and pieces of this story regarding whales are based on true facts.

The story just wasn’t what I thought it “could” be. Younger kids might find it interesting or boring. I’m just not even sure.… (more)

The book is a YA book. You have to remember how you viewed your world when you were 16 or 17 years old and what you imagined your possibilities were. You also, as the seasoned "grown-up" you are now, how reality is, and work a little to suspend your "big people" disbelief in the role Cameryn plays here. Cameryn's father is the County coroner, and because she has displayed an interest in forensics, he allows his 17-year-old to be his forensic assistant. Now, in reality this is probably vastly unlikely, ill-advised and impossible...especially when one of her observations was one of her teachers. Somehow, I can't remember this being a career choice on Career Day when I was 17... but hey, this is fiction, so it sets the premise for the adventures of this young woman. The book had some minor flaws. It's not for the squeamish reader and it did drag a little at times making me have to go back and reread something occasionally. In the plus department...I like the ongoing tension between the main character and the young deputy as well as the sub-plot about her long-lost mother. What really made me overlook the "impossibilities" and "unlikelies" in the story was Cameryn herself. She is presented as a strong young woman, very smart and she has morals. This is well worth the reading time.… (more)