I was so pleased to receive this book having just finished and thoroughly enjoyed Sachar’s best known book Holes. This one didn’t disappoint me either. It will be particularly interesting for readers who are interested in environmental issues. It shows how even the good guys who are trying to protect the environment can cause panic and potential disaster if their research goes wrong.
Tamaya always walks home with Marshall because her mother doesn’t want her to walk home alone. She is forced to follow Marshall when he decides to go home through a wood in order to avoid the bully, Chad. Unfortunately, Chad realises what is going on and waylays them in the wood. Fiercely protecting her friend, Tamaya picks up a handful of strange mud and throws it at Chad. It is only on the following day that Tamaya notices angry blisters on her hand. That and the realisation that Chad seems to have disappeared send her back to the wood. Panic follows as the realisation of what could happen spreads into the community and beyond.
You will get to know the characters well and feel involved with them. Tamaya is such a good girl and I love the way that she flies to help Marshall even though she was reluctant to follow him into the wood. She also shows compassion towards Chad the bully and Sachar is able to make the reader feel sorry for him in spite of what he has done. This is quite a short book – I read it in one sitting and I don’t think that it will have the same impact as Holes which is full of so many amazing coincidences but the messages that it holds are probably more important.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
