Today's review was written by teacher-librarian Elizabeth Cook.
Written by Gordon Korman
Scholastic Canada
978-1-44317-592-0
312 pp.
Ages 8-12
March 2020
Gordon Korman has written another great book for children and adults alike. Moreover, Notorious is a great book for both Canadians and Americans, as the story takes place on the island of Centrelight which sits in the middle of a river that bisects these two great nations and through which a border that zigzags through town equally divides it.
The story begins with spunky Zarabeth, known by everyone as Zeebee, and her dog Barney Two. Zeebee inserts herself into the role of official tour guide to Keenan, the new boy in town, often focusing her tours on the history of the gangsters who used to run the island back in the 1920s and 1930s during Prohibition. Zeebee’s stories about Al Capone, Myer Lansky, and Tommy-Gun Ferguson always contain a dramatic flair and seem to have direct links to every spot in town. These gangsters were up to all sorts of criminal activities in their time, but it seems that contemporary life on the island might not be any more innocent. Zeebee is convinced that her first dog, Barney, who was well-known as a town menace, was murdered by someone on the island several months earlier and it's up to her and Keenan to solve the mystery.
Each chapter of this novel is written from a different character’s perspective, which advances the story in a fun way. Gordon Korman uses both Zeebee and Keenan to narrate the majority of the story. I always enjoy seeing how the different characters view the same event, especially when it is a teenager’s point of view. Zeebee’s over-the-top nature lends itself well to some hilarious stories, while it was quite fun for me to see how Keenan reacted to his first taste of poutine.
Gordon Korman’s Notorious is a great story for students in the middle grades and up. It is a story about friendship, fitting in, love of pets and, of course, tales of gangsters and lost treasure! This story will keep you guessing from start to finish with many laughs along the way. I do have one lingering thought however: if Zarabeth is a Canadian, shouldn’t her nickname be Zedbee?
n.b. Teachers, you will find a character analysis of Barney One to be quite a fun endeavour with your class!
The story begins with spunky Zarabeth, known by everyone as Zeebee, and her dog Barney Two. Zeebee inserts herself into the role of official tour guide to Keenan, the new boy in town, often focusing her tours on the history of the gangsters who used to run the island back in the 1920s and 1930s during Prohibition. Zeebee’s stories about Al Capone, Myer Lansky, and Tommy-Gun Ferguson always contain a dramatic flair and seem to have direct links to every spot in town. These gangsters were up to all sorts of criminal activities in their time, but it seems that contemporary life on the island might not be any more innocent. Zeebee is convinced that her first dog, Barney, who was well-known as a town menace, was murdered by someone on the island several months earlier and it's up to her and Keenan to solve the mystery.
Each chapter of this novel is written from a different character’s perspective, which advances the story in a fun way. Gordon Korman uses both Zeebee and Keenan to narrate the majority of the story. I always enjoy seeing how the different characters view the same event, especially when it is a teenager’s point of view. Zeebee’s over-the-top nature lends itself well to some hilarious stories, while it was quite fun for me to see how Keenan reacted to his first taste of poutine.
Gordon Korman’s Notorious is a great story for students in the middle grades and up. It is a story about friendship, fitting in, love of pets and, of course, tales of gangsters and lost treasure! This story will keep you guessing from start to finish with many laughs along the way. I do have one lingering thought however: if Zarabeth is a Canadian, shouldn’t her nickname be Zedbee?
n.b. Teachers, you will find a character analysis of Barney One to be quite a fun endeavour with your class!
~ Elizabeth Cook is a teacher-librarian in the Halton District School Board. She is an avid reader and fan of Canadian literature.
No comments:
Post a Comment