The Unmaking of Duncan Veerick

by Betty Levin

When Duncan caught Astrid Valentine's little ratty dog for her that day, he had no idea how complicated his life was about to become. Astrid was Duncan 's neighbor, but he had mostly avoided her until that day. Then a few days later, he crawled through the doggy door in the back of the house, because Mrs. Valentine had locked herself out. But then she had a stroke, and Duncan 's parents coerced him into feeding and watering the little dog, Mo, and letting him out into the back yard after school...just until Astrid was able to take care of him herself. But Astrid didn't just bounce right back. She was in the hospital for quite a while, and then when she did come home, she was still not able to take care of Mo.

Mr. Valentine had been a junk dealer before he died, and the Valentine house was still literally a junkyard. There were some treasures in there too, and Astrid's nephew, Eddie, is planning to sell off the collection. Duncan takes on the job of sorting the antiques, artifacts and usable items from the huge shed at the back of the house.

One day, Astrid had a box of cassette tapes that she wanted Duncan to listen to, and he just wondered how soon he could get away, but then, he became mesmerized by the music, recorded live and like nothing he had ever heard before. His feelings for the crazy old lady began to change and gradually, Duncan found himself being talked into helping Astrid more and more.

Astrid begins to think that Eddie is stealing from her, and begs Duncan to help her hide some of her rare treasures, and that's when things start to go bad. Duncan buries some treasures, and takes some to his house to hide. Then when the police enter the picture, everyone is looking at Duncan as a suspect in the thefts.

Betty Levin has created a compelling, sympathetic character in Duncan Veerick. The suspense builds relentlessly right up to the ending in this novel that is a good choice for tweens who are looking for an exciting story.