  | Full Text Reviews: Bulletin for the Center... - 03/01/2011 Johnny Swanson, the smallest kid in his class, secretly spends three shillings that he and his widowed mother can’t spare in response to an ad that promises the “Secret of Instant Height.” The answer by return post, “Stand on a box,” doesn’t increase his stature, but it does inspire him with a host of ideas for scams of his own, which he promptly launches to help keep the landlord at bay when the rent comes due. Johnny digs himself ever deeper in lies to keep his enterprise going in a small 1929 village where everyone knows everybody’s business, and soon he’s concocted a cover story of an ailing aunt on a visit who has a modest mail-order needlework trade of her own. Johnny’s petty swindle pales, though, beside a truly heinous crime in the neighborhood: Dr. Langford, known for his good works at a tuberculosis sanitarium, is found slain in his home; his wife is missing; and Johnny’s mother, who cleans house for them, is arrested as the killer. Johnny strongly suspects that the murder may be related to Langford’s covert work on a TB vaccine used by the French but banned in Britain, and as the boy investigates to save his mother, his own life is on the line. There’s flair and entertainment here for sure, but the two crime themes don’t always mesh as smoothly as one might like, lurching in tone from comic mischief to mortal peril, and wrapping up on a note of new dad/new stepsister/happy ever after. While this may be a far cry, stylistically, from the sure-handed panache of Updale’s Montmorency series (Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman, BCCB 4/04, et al.), younger readers who prefer their mysteries diluted with a dash of humor may still feel they’re getting their money’s worth. EB - Copyright 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. School Library Journal - 03/01/2011 Gr 5–7—The year is 1929, and Johnny Swanson, 11, is up against hard times. TB is ravaging the English countryside, his only same-age friend is taken to a sanitorium, and Johnny and his widowed mother are struggling financially. Burned once himself, the boy schemes to swindle others by placing fraudulent ads in the newspaper. The plot then twists as the local doctor turns up dead and Johnny's mom is arrested as the prime suspect. With the help of a sympathetic postmaster, Johnny solves the murder and vindicates his mother. Johnny Swanson is an excellent introduction to the formulaic mystery novel. Although perhaps overly nostalgic, the story is tightly woven, with excellent red herrings and fantastic villains.—Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL - Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 05/01/2011 Deception, greed, and murder lie at the heart of this mystery, set in England in 1929. Young Johnny Swanson, small for his age and frequently the target of bullies, lives with his mother and earns a little money delivering newspapers for Mr. Hutchinson’s store. After his mum is arrested on a murder charge and the whole town turns against her, Johnny struggles to find the killer, help a friend, and survive on his own with very little money. The story is uneven and at times jarring in its stretch to include violent death as well as childlike innocence. Still, it memorably portrays a time in England when WWI was slowly shifting from a vivid shared experience to an aching memory fading from the collective consciousness. Told in third person, the narrative closely follows Johnny’s actions, observations, and emotions. Improbable, yet satisfying, the happy ending seems a fitting reward for the plucky protagonist. - Copyright 2011 Booklist. Loading...
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