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Review at MyShelf.Com | ||||||||||||||
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by Diane Martineau Toby Maxwell is having a tough summer. His parents just divorced and his mom has moved with Toby and his sister to a dinky apartment in the world's most crabby neighborhood. To make matters worse, Toby quickly runs afoul of a gang of bullies who hit first and ask questions never. When they aren't terrorizing the place, they're working on a huge hideous mural depicting all manner of evil. Then Toby's one new friend, a street-person named Moe, tells him that the gang is working a kind of magic through that mural. Although many of the trappings of the story - recent divorce, bullying, the nobility of the socially adrift - are pretty common, author Diane Martineau does a nice job of weaving them together into a satisfying story. The novel catches our attention right from the beginning and holds us throughout so well that we even forgive her for the cliché of the dad who tends to forget his kids in the glow of a new romance. I'm sure kids will also love the whole idea of a mural that magically enhances your artistic ability and changes the world around you - it's a kind of teen version of Harold and the Purple Crayon and every bit as compelling. I enjoyed the book tremendously. |
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The Wall on 7th Street