Who Stole the Hamster?
Smashie McPepper and her best friend Dontel make a great team, especially when it comes to solving mysteries – like who stole Patches, the Room 11 hamster? This is a soap-opera of a book with a large cast of characters, a fast-paced main story, several sub-plots and a few red herrings. The book opens at breakneck speed, introducing many characters and situations with potential for disaster.
The breezy style and short chapters keep the story moving along – though it does get quite complicated and may challenge less experienced readers. The expressive illustrations, by Kate Hindley, suit the humour of the story, and bring out the individuality of each character. This helps keep the reader on track.
Smashie is an unusual main character – very individual and quirky – sometimes to the point of being annoying, even to her best friend Dontel, who is more level-headed and less impulsive. She follows her own star and, for this reader at least, there is more than a suggestion that she is on the autistic spectrum. Despite some tension at Smashie’s wilder exploits, her classmates eventually realise that her heart is in the right place and they praise her resourcefulness at solving the mystery.
By the end of the book, you feel you know the children of Room 11 and the wider community of the Rebecca Lee Crumpler Primary School very well – and it comes as no surprise that this is the first in a new series.
