Banned Books Special: Drama by Raina Telgemeier; A Cute Charming Graphic Novel About Love and Identity at a Middle High School Drama Department

Banned Books Special: Drama by Raina Telgemeier; A Cute Charming Graphic Novel About Love and Identity at a Middle High School Drama Department

Spoilers: Callie, the excitable protagonist of Raina Telgemeier's graphic novel seems to be born for the stage so the 7th grader is a part of Eucalyptus Middle School Drama Department. However unlike many other starstruck teens, she does not want to be center stage singing and acting. (In fact an early moment reveals that she can't carry a tune.) Instead she turns her interest into set design. She pores over coffee table books and art books revealing the intricate sets of the old Ziegfeld and Broadway shows and strives to make her productions just like them. (with a third of a budget for a school production.) The intrepid teen deals with her grandiose ideas and the complicated love lives of herself and the other students in this charming and cute graphic novel which deals with friendships, romances, and discovering one’s identity in the world of the theater.

The kids are tasked to perform Moon Over Mississippi, a musical/love story. Callie is thrilled not only to design the intricate Antebellum sets but that she also gets to fire a prop cannon. (She hoped to fire one with pyrotechnics, but the stage manager and director/faculty advisor had to remind her of the potential damage to the auditorium and potential loss of life.) Her best friend, Liz is excited because as costume designer she gets to watch classic films like Shenandoah and Gone With the Wind to sketch the beautiful hooped skirt gowns and handsome Union and Confederate uniforms and to find details for the costumes even if it means going into the creepy prop and costume vault. Callie's friend Max is excited in his role as spotlight technician and that he also gets to boss the other kids around including Liz and Callie.

The fact that most of the main characters are crew members instead of part of the cast shows that these roles are just as important if not more so than the ones onstage. The people who contribute to these roles are just as creative and talented as the performers.

Besides the hijinks onstage, the Reader is drawn into the hijinks off and Drama begins to take on the attributes of a teen sitcom or light-hearted soap opera with the requisite love triangles, more like Love Dodecahedrons, present.

Let's see if I can get this straight (deep breath): Callie is at first in love with Matt’s older brother, Greg who sees Callie mostly as a friend. Greg has an on-again-off-again relationship with Bonnie, the most popular girl in school who also plays the female lead in Moon Over Mississippi. Bonnie eventually begins dating West, who plays the male lead. Callie befriends two twin brothers, Justin and Jesse. Justin, who gets the part of a comic relief, is openly gay much to Callie's initial confusion and eventual acceptance. Callie develops a crush on Jesse, who assists her in constructing sets. What Callie doesn't know is that Jesse is also gay and is developing a relationship with West. Meanwhile, Matt harbors a secret crush on Callie which he hides behind snide remarks and deadpan sarcasm.

While as in many programs the love triangles, or whatever shape, is overdone, many of the characters are prone to hysterics and melodrama. (like most teens particularly ones involved in drama already). However the characters are so cute and likeable that it's easy to root for them despite them being thrown into the non-stop pairings.

Standing out in particular in the cast are Callie and Jesse. Callie is practically the engine, the driving force, behind the production. She gets excited by even the minute details such as tossing magnolia leaves at the young lovers during their big love song. She knows, loves, and studies Broadway musicals enthusiastically turning her hobby  int an obsession and a potential career.

She draws the other crew members into her enthusiasm by getting them excited and thinking this is going to be the best production ever. She makes suggestions for the various departments from lighting, to costumes, to acting and they take them willingly. Partly because many of her ideas are good, with the exception of the pyrotechnics cannon.  For example, she suggests soft lights for romantic scenes instead of red because “it looks too much like danger.” Also the others relent to Callie's suggestions because they know she will pester them until they agree.

 She is also persistent in creating the various facets of the set design. She obsesses over the cannon filling it with confetti and sound effects so it could create the perfect explosion that would startle the audience out of their seats. She uses the cannon not only in the play but in the cafeteria as free publicity advertising the play which creates a long line of students buying tickets.

Jesse also stands out in this charming cast. While his twin, Justin is a bit of a gay stereotype with his exuberant personality and love of being center stage, Jesse is very shy and standoffish. While he has a good singing voice and has the musical memorized (thanks to he and Justin having the soundtrack at home.), Jesse has tremendous stage fright and is content to stay behind the scenes.

Jesse’s shyness also pertains to his sexuality. Even though Callie pursues him as energetically as she does everything else, he is too terrified to tell the truth. He continues to follow her around because he is uncertain with how he feels and who he wants to be.

 It is only in the end when after Bonnie has a meltdown backstage and refuses to go on, that Jesse assumes her red gown and plays the female lead. He finally becomes comfortable with himself.

 In assuming a female identity, Jesse recognizes his own real identity as a gay young man and pursues a relationship with West.

While Drama is cute and charming and filled with laughable moments, at heart it tells a sweet story about how romance can be found only when people are being their true selves.

Weekly Reader: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win The Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly; A Wonderful True Story of A Group of Brilliant Trailblazing African-American Women

Weekly Reader: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win The Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly; A Wonderful True Story of A Group of Brilliant Trailblazing African-American Women


By Julie Sara Porter


Bookworm Reviews





Without the brilliant minds of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and the other African-American female mathematicians in the West Computer division of NASA, it's very doubtful that the Americans would have made it out of Earth's lowest hemisphere let alone into Space and ultimately the Moon.


Margot Lee Shetterly’s best selling biography, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win The Space Race which became the Academy Award nominated film Hidden Figures pays these women a debt long owed. They are written to be courageous, brilliant women who were able to break through racial and gender barriers and contribute to these important moments in American history.





The exciting opportunities for these women came in the late ‘30’s when NASA was the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) when studying airplanes was the goal. The superiors realized that there were plenty of female mathematicians that they could recruit to create trajectories and figures for the planes to travel. These women were called computers as they computed these large sums in their heads and provided solutions based on the data they used. Interestingly enough this assumption that women would be the best at calculating these figures runs contrary to the modern offensive stereotype that women and girls can't “do math and science,” a stereotype that many in the STEM fields have been trying to counter. The careers of the women in this book should serve as an inspiration for any girl or woman to aspire to become mathematicians and engineers themselves.





The other door that opened was in 1941 when after prodding by A. Philip Randolph, the head of the largest black labor union, the Roosevelt Administration declared Executive Order 8802 ordering the desegregation of the defense industry and Executive Order 9346 the Fair Employment Practices Committee to monitor economic inclusion. All this meant that African-Americans were permitted to work in defense projects to help fight for their country.





One of the first recruits was Dorothy Vaughan, a former math teacher. Even though she and the other African-American female recruits were segregated to the west side of the Langley offices thereby dubbed the “West Computers,” Vaughan was able to compute her figures accurately. She was also able to take charge of the other computers so that when their former supervisor suffered a nervous breakdown and had to be institutionalized, Vaughan seamlessly stepped in to take her place as the Chief Supervisor of the West Computer division.


Vaughan also proved to be adaptable to changing circumstances. When NACA transformed into NASA and the focus changed to space exploration, Vaughan studied the potential for rocket travel. Then when the human computers changed over to electronic computing, Vaughan spent some time in night school studying computer programming and languages to stay ahead of her field.





Another brilliant woman in this group was Mary Jackson. She learned the benefit of making powerful alliances. A Girl Scout troop leader and mother who always tried to give the children in her neighborhood pride in themselves and their race, Jackson was derided by the white engineers. After one particular incident, she stormed off in fury and told her troubles to Kazmierz Czarnecki, the assistant section head of the Supersonic Pressure Tunnel. Czarnecki invited Jackson to work with him. Jackson earned her position by demonstrating her engineering skills.


She also was able to rise from the title of “mathematician” to “engineer”, a feat rarely accomplished by any of the woman working at Langley let alone the African-American women. The “Engineer” title meant more money, prestige, and recognition for Jackson's services.





By far the most famous of the West Computers was Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson. She balanced her role as a widowed mother of three, a romance with 2nd Lt. Jim Johnson, and her work as a mathematician and West Computer. Her research into analytic geometry impressed many of the white male engineers who promoted her to work directly under them. She also showed extraordinary persistence such as continuing to ask her supervisors if she could attend meetings to the point where they allowed her to attend them just so she would stop asking. Another sign of her intelligence and persistence was in receiving credit for her research. When Ted Skopinski transferred to Houston, his former supervisor ordered him to finish his research. He suggested that Johnson complete the research since “she did most of it anyway.” Not only did Johnson finish the research, but she received credit and authorship, a feat not accomplished by many other women in her field.


Johnson also had a reputation for accuracy in her calculations so much so that she was willing to argue with others if she discovered a flaw in the numbers. She calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard's flight into.space.


Her reputation for genius and accurate calculations reached the ears of astronaut, John Glenn, who planned to orbit Earth. He asked for her specifically and said that he would not fly unless Johnson verified the calculations. After Glen’s historic flight, Johnson also contributed calculations for future space flights such as Apollo 11’s trip to the Moon.





Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson showed that with intelligence, courage, and persistence racial and gender barriers can not only be broken. They can be shattered beyond repair and anyone can be recognized for their achievements, no matter their race or gender.

Forgotten Favorites: September by Rosamunde Pilcher; A Sweet Novel With A Memorable Ensemble of Characters And A Lovely Scottish Setting

Forgotten Favorites: September by Rosamunde Pilcher; A Sweet Novel With A Memorable Ensemble of Characters And A Lovely Scottish Setting


By Julie Sara Porter


Bookworm Reviews





Spoilers: Rosamunde Pilcher's novel, September is one of those sweet novels like the works of Maeve Binchey with a fascinating lovely setting, in this case Scotland in September and a memorable ensemble of characters. Quite often there's a kind wise elderly woman, a pair or two of young lovers, an eccentric older character who might be crazy or just odd, a feuding couple on the brink of divorce or separation, and a figure, usually an elegant lovely woman, who is the source of much rumors and speculation. These characters go through some struggles within their families, friends, and romances. There are some vague attempts at real world issues like divorce, unemployment, war, mental illness, and death but ultimately the characters shine through and the Reader is guaranteed a happy ending in which lovers are united and ties are strengthened.





This description makes it sound like I don't like these type of books. On the contrary, it’s impossible not to like these books, as formulaic as they can be, and September is a sweet book. It is the type of book that is filled with beautiful description and such lovely characters that this Reader considered booking a flight to Scotland just to see if they exist so she could hang around with them.





The book starts with the overbearing, Verena Steyton who wants to give a party in September for her daughter, Katy’s 21st birthday. September is the perfect time of year for such a party. It's after summer when the American tourists have left and when the weather is the most beautiful in Scotland. The book is filled with wonderful descriptions of Relkirkshire (a fictional village) in autumn. The senses are given a full workout picturing morning's light frost giving the countryside’s colors a brighter shade, the golden fields, the rain drizzle, and the scent of full bloomed heather.





While Verena is handing out invitations, booking a rock band for the entertainment, and overseeing the hors d’oeuvres, the Readers meet the other characters, each with their own issues that hopefully will be resolved by the big day. There's Edmund Aird, a businessman who wants his 8-year-old son, Henry to begin boarding school against the wishes of his second much younger wife, Virginia. Virginia despairs of letting her little boy go and feels a combination of separation anxiety and empty nest syndrome. Alexa, Edmund's adult daughter, a freelance chef lives happily with her boyfriend, advertising executive, Noel Keeling (who incidentally is the son of the protagonist of Pilcher's previous novel, The Shell Seekers). But Alexa is concerned about how her family feels about her common law relationship and Noel is debating whether or not to take their relationship to the next level. Edmund's mother, Violet Aird is a kind matronly woman whom everyone goes to with their problems but is beginning to feel the twilight of her years and is concerned about her friend, Edie whose mentally ill cousin, Lottie is staying with her and causing trouble.





Besides the Steyton and the Airds, the other important family is the Blairs, the family of Lord Archibald Balmerino, titled landowners. Archibald feels useless with a prosthetic leg shot off during a conflict in Northern Ireland. Nowadays, he putters around in his workshop carving wooden statues while his wife, Isobel runs a lucrative tourist business catering mostly to rich Americans. Their daughter, Luciella seems to have rejected a life of riches and titles to go backpacking on the Continent with her Australian boyfriend, Jeff. Then there's Pandora, Archibald's sister who moved from Relkirkshire nearly 20 years ago and left a trail of former husbands and lovers behind everywhere she went, one of whom was Edmund Aird.





The beauty of Pilcher's novel is not just in the setting. The characters are just so darned likeable that everyone is given a moment to show that they are more than they seem. Verena is nosy and overbearing but clearly loves her daughter, Katy and only wants what's best for her. Edmund can be a boorish stiff so bound in tradition that he is willing to pack off an 8-year-old kid to boarding school despite objections from everyone else. He sees the error of his ways when Henry returns after running away from school to tell his parents that he is unhappy there. So unhappy that even the headmaster thinks Henry's too young to be in boarding school.


Virginia feels that her marriage is loveless so she begins an affair with Conrad Tucker, a former American boyfriend and considers leaving with him. In the end, she decides not to when she realizes how much Edmund loves and needs her.


Archibald is filled with PTSD about his military experiences and conflicted about his current role as a wounded Lord. However he bonds with Conrad as the two share experiences in wars, they felt were unjust and unnecessary: Archibald’s in North Ireland and Conrad’s in Vietnam. Archibald also shows great creative talent as he carves a sculpture of Katy Steyton for her birthday giving him an opportunity for a future possibility of earning money.


Even characters who fill the others with fear and loathing like Lottie have memorable moments. While Lottie flies off into unpredictable rants, she also reveals the truth in the most inopportune times. For example she reveals to Virginia that Edmund and Pandora were once lovers and the reason Edmund flew off on a sudden business trip was to avoid meeting her.





The most fascinating character in the bunch is the beguiling Pandora Blair. After leaving Relkirkshire, she never returned even to attend her parent's funerals. The free-spirited enthusiastic woman traveled through Europe, North America, South America, and everywhere else ultimately settling in Majorca, Spain where she meets Luciella and Jeff. Verena Steyton’s invitation sends her home for the first time in a long time.


Pandora is a whirlwind who catches everyone else up in her elaborate plots such as taking Isobel, Alexa, Virginia, and Luciella on expensive shopping sprees for clothes for Katy's birthday party in which she pays for everything. She also encourages Archibald to wear their father’s formal clothes even though he long rejected them and to sell his carved wooden sculptures.


Like a pixy, Pandora spreads advice to the people around to make them happy. She suggests that Noel marry Alexa, a woman that he loves, to avoid a lifetime of regret and loneliness like she had.


Pandora is a strange figure that fills the characters and the Reader with curiosity about her and her motives. Why did she come back after all this time? Does she want to resume an affair with Edmund? Why is she excitable one minute and sleepy the next? Is she bipolar or is there something else wrong with her? The final pages reveal that Pandora was a complex woman with plenty of regrets but a zest for life that was undeniable.





September is a delightful book. While there are some sad moments, it is the enchanting setting and the brilliant characters, particularly Pandora, that the Reader will hold onto after the book is closed.

Banned Books Special: 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher; A Moving Heartbreaking YA Novel About Suicide And Those Left Behind

Banned Books Special: 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher; A Moving Heartbreaking YA Novel About Suicide And Those Left Behind


By Julie Sara Porter


Bookworm Reviews





Spoilers: Bullying and Suicide are important topics these days especially with teenagers. People often believe that suicide is ultimately no one's fault. (Not even the deceased because they were often depressed and had mental illnesses that controlled their way of thinking) However, there is a growing awareness that slut-shaming, body-shaming, public embarrassment, cyber bullying, and physical and psychological bullying can be key factors in contributing to a person's depression or low self- esteem. The consequences of those actions can damage a person's already fragile psyche and result in that person's suicide.





Jay Asher’s YA novel 13 Reasons Why (which has become a series on Netflix) is a grim and heartbreaking look how a young girl's suicide affects those around her particularly those she blames for her final actions.





In the beginning, the Reader learns that Hannah Baker is dead. Her friend, Clay Jenson mourns her loss as he receives a strange package of seven cassette tapes and a note advising whoever receives them to listen to them then pass them along to someone else on the list. Borrowing his dad's old stereo, Clay listens to Hannah's voice as she sadly and with buried fury tells about those who hurt her or did little to help her, those that she blames for her suicide.





Each account shows in great detail the events that surrounded Hannah making her realize how few people she had to turn to. She documented various moments when other kids at school spread rumors about her. One boy gave her her first kiss but told everyone he went farther with her. Hannah's reputation was then marred as a slut. Another boy put her name on a list with the moniker “Best Ass” which inspired another boy to pinch and grope her.


These two accusations gave Hannah a false reputation that she couldn't shake of being a wanton party girl. They resulted in escalated mistreatment such as when a girl in school spread rumors about Hannah's so-called sexual adventures and sex toys. (When in reality the girl tried to help Hannah avoid a Peeping Tom by pretending to perform for him with Hannah) More serious and tragic consequences resulted when a boy raped a friend of Hannah then Hannah herself.





Hannah also laid blame on the seemingly nice people who failed to help her when she needed them the most. A teacher and guidance counselor appears on Hannah's list when she recorded their conversation and told him all that happened particularly her rape. Hannah was so far gone in despair thinking everyone was against her that she took badly his advice “to just move on.” Actually he advised several suggestions including reporting what happened to her to the police, but in Hannah's mind, she doubted everyone. His suggestions only confirmed her belief that no one cared how she felt.





Clay listens to the tapes anxiously wondering why he was on the list. While Hannah appeared to absolve Clay of any guilt saying he was a good friend, in the most heartbreaking moment he realized that it wasn't anything he did but what he didn't do: He didn't listen to Hannah when she needed help, didn't ask her what was wrong or realized that anything was wrong. His crime was not doing enough to help her.


While this realization fills Clay with shame and guilt, he uses those feelings to help another depressed girl, Skye. This shows that Clay learned from his inaction with Hannah and helps another troubled girl so she doesn't follow Hannah's lead.





13 Reasons Why shows that our actions and words have grave consequences and despite what our mothers told us names can break our bones, or spirits. Hopefully though in the final moments between Clay and Skye, The Reader learns that words and actions can also lead to healing broken spirits as well.

September's Schedule

August was a busy but memorable month. Plus it was one of the few where every book on my list was read and reviewed right on time (including two holdovers from the previous month!)

September is going to be an interesting mixture. I will begin with a Forgotten Favorite an ensemble romance about an annual September gathering (perfect for the month). I will also explore a very strange novel which covers several periods in history and the future with several characters who are connected in unusual ways.

This month I will also read three biographies featuring noted Americans. The first involves a group of female African-American mathematicians who were able to help NASA win the Space Race. Then I will review biographies about two iconic childhood figures Barbie TM and Mickey Mouse and the people who created them: Ruth Handler and Walt Disney.

I will also honor Banned Books Week, September 24-29 by reviewing the four most challenged and banned books of 2017 each week. They are some of the most thought-provoking challenging YA books and cover such topics as suicide, racism, LGBTQIA, and war.

All is said, it should be an interesting and very busy month of reading. I can't wait to get started.

1.Forgotten Favorites: September by Rosamund Pilcher
2.Weekly Reader: Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win The Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
3. Banned Books Special: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

4. Weekly Reader: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
5. Banned Books Special: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

6. Weekly Reader: Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her by Robin Gerber
7. Banned Books Special: Drama by Raina Telgemeier

8. Weekly Reader: Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neil Gabler
9. Banned Books Special: The Kite Runner by Kahled Hosseini

Weekly Reader: A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell; An Engaging But Deeply Flawed Psychological Thriller About A Toxic Friendship

Weekly Reader: A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell; An Engaging But Deeply Flawed Psychological Thriller About A Toxic Friendship

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: How well do we know the people we term our “best friends?” Do we know their childhoods and if there were any traumas that caused them to be the way they are now? Do we know if there are any oddities or issues in their current lives to cause them to do seemingly crazy things? How far would we go to help them?




These questions are asked in Darcey Bell’s engaging and thought provoking but at times flawed novel, A Simple Favor. Stephanie is a widowed “mommy blogger” who posts entries about the pleasures and difficulties of raising children. One day picking up her son, Miles from school she meets Emily, the mother of Miles’ best friend, Nicky.




Emily is everything that Stephanie isn't. Where Stephanie is casual and naive, Emily is refined and elegant. While Stephanie spends her time in Connecticut blogging advice to other moms about quality time with children and keeping them entertained in the summer, Emily works for a fashion designer in Manhattan. While Stephanie mourns her deceased husband, Davis and her half-brother,Chris who was her “best friend”, Emily appears happily married to Sean, a British architect.




Despite their differences, Stephanie and Emily retain a close friendship until one day when Emily calls Stephanie for a simple favor: could Stephanie pick up Nicky from school and keep him at her place until Emily comes and gets him? Stephanie agrees and waits for Emily. And waits. And waits.

Emily is eventually declared officially missing and the plot follows briskly along through several questions. Where did Emily go and is she coming back? What about that life insurance policy that Sean took out in her name? What about that dead body at Emily and Sean's cabin? Was it Emily and if so how did she die?




While the plot is pretty suspenseful, the strongest suspense is found in the characters particularly Stephanie and Emily. The female deuteragonists are experts at acting in one way and behaving differently.




While Stephanie appears to be a bubbly naive former housewife in her blog, the chapters which report her thoughts give a different portrayal to her public persona. She announces to her fellow moms in her blog that she and Sean have decided to move in together. She states “the heart wants what it wants” and that she and Sean want to give Miles and Nicky some stability. What she fails to tell her blog readers but tells the novel’s Reader is that she has been in love with Sean since Emily's disappearance and they slept together many times before they made it official.




The strongest difference between Stephanie's public and private persons deals with her feelings for her late husband, Davis and half-brother, Chris. She posts a half-truth on her blog that the two had an argument and drove off to the nearest steakhouse when they were killed in a traffic collision.

What Stephanie doesn't tell her blog readers is that she and Chris had a sexual affair from the time they met as adults and realized they had the same father but different mothers. (Even weirder part of the reason, she is so fond of Sean is he reminds her of Chris.) She also recalls that Davis found out about the incestuous affair and planned on killing Chris taking himself with him.




Emily also keeps her true feelings concealed to all but the novel's Readers. She is much like Amy Elliot Dunne in Gone Girl in that she is a maestro at manipulating people into doing what she wants. She appears to have had s cultured sophisticated background free of any close family members. However, the Reader learns she had abusive parents and a weak-willed drug addicted sister that Emily loves but doesn't mind using for her personal needs.

While Emily compliments Stephanie to her face calling her solid and dependable, privately she thinks she's witless and boring but the perfect unseeming patsy for her schemes. She is skilled at using people to get what she wants: independence, freedom, money, and eventually custody of Nicky.




While A Simple Favor is strong in terms of characterizing it's two lead characters, it falters in many ways. When we find out about the reason behind Emily's disappearance, it is hoary and clichéd, and is extremely familiar to viewers of film noir and detective novels of the ‘20’s and ‘30’s. (That's how long this plot angle has been around.) While Stephanie's incestuous affair does a good job of capturing her character, there is no resolution to it. It just becomes a red herring and a missed opportunity to the point it was almost unnecessary.




The ending also leaves something to be desired as another dead body is found and more questions are raised. There is no finality as once again Emily and Stephanie open up new revelations about themselves that have no time to be resolved.

Weekly Reader: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane; A Thought Provoking Thriller About The Effects on Crime Towards Three Friends

Weekly Reader: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane; A Thought Provoking Thriller About The Effects on Crime Towards Three Friends

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews




Spoilers: There are some mysteries and thrillers that are whodunnits: A murder where the characters have to learn who killed the victim. There are some that are whydunnits: Where the killer is known, at least by the Reader, so we learn how the crime happened and what motivated them to commit the murder. Then there's what I call, for lack of a better word, whatdunnits: In which a violent crime occurred, but the emphasis is on the grieving family members and friends as if saying “ Someone's dead. What are you going to do about it?”

The Oscar winning film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one example. In it a grief stricken mother, orders three billboards to place outside her home posting damming messages against the Sheriff for not solving her daughter's murder. While the movie hinted at a potential killer, the daughter's murder is never truly resolved. It becomes a story less about solving the crime than it is about a mother dealing with her grief, succumbing to near insanity, and ultimately coping with the fact that she may never learn who killed her.




Mystic River by Dennis Lehane is another example of a whatdunnit. While there is a murder and the killer is identified in the end, the emphasis is the impact of the murder on three men and their families.




The three men: Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle grew up together in the same neighborhood though Sean grew up on the rich side and Jimmy and Dave on the poor. Sean and Jimmy became friends because their fathers worked together. Dave often just tagged along with the other two.




Two important events shaped the trio’s lives. The first occurred when they were 11 years old. A pair of strangers offer the boys a ride in their car. Sean and Jimmy refuse but Dave hops inside only to be missing for four days. He returns to much fame and notoriety and a fearful disturbing personality that haunts him for the rest of his life.




The second event occurs later when they are adults. Katie Marcus, Jimmy's beloved eldest daughter goes missing after making plans to elope with her boyfriend. After a few days of tense searching, Sean Devine now a State Homicide Police Detective finds the girl shot, beaten, and brutally murdered.




Katie's death sends the three men into downward spirals as they question their lives. Sean tries to solve this case using legal and investigative means to learn who killed Katie while coming to terms in his career and marriage.

He has just returned from suspension and is separated from his wife, Lauren because he doubts that he’s the father of their daughter. He is determined to solve Katie's murder to find some sense of order in his life amidst the random chaos of a faltering marriage and the seemingly senseless murder of a young girl.




Jimmy, Katie's father, has the most emotional journey in the novel. While he is trying to retain a strong front for his younger daughters and his second wife, Annabeth (his first wife, Katie's mother died a long time ago), he is willing to give into his past reputation to resolve Katie's death. He was a delinquent as a teenager and served time in early adulthood. Though he owns and manages a convenience store, he hasn't left his illegal past behind. Instead he embraces vigilantism as he and his brothers-in-law use violent means to resolve the murder.

In one chilling passage, he is so filled with rage at a potential suspect that he kills him without any thought only to discover later that he was the wrong person. Though he is so far gone in his anger and desire for revenge that he justifies his kill as saying the other man was “probably” up to something and would have eventually become a killer.




If Jimmy had the most emotional journey and Sean had the most procedural, then Dave’s is probably the creepiest. He still suffers from nightmares about his abduction as a child and the molestation he endured from his kidnappers. He thinks of that time as something that happened to someone else to “The Boy Who Escaped The Wolves.” He seems to have Dissociative Identity Disorder separating that kid from his current life as a businessman and family man.

He separates those two lives until the night before Katie's disappearance, he comes home covered in blood. He tells his wife that he fought a mugger outside the neighborhood bar. Celeste begins to doubt his story especially after she hears reports about Katie Marcus's murder on the news. Did the loving and seemingly meek man she shared a bed with and fathered her son brutally kill an innocent girl? As for Dave, he has to come to terms with his earlier kidnapping and molestation to understand his later actions and the actions of “The Boy Who Escaped from Wolves.”




While the murder is solved, it comes out from nowhere to the point that this Reader wonders if Lehane didn't intend for the resolution to be important. The most important aspects of the novel are how a young woman's violent murder affects her vengeful father and his friends, one who is trying to rebuild a new life and the other still suffering from the scars of the past.