Death by Chocolate : Little Fitz and Ziggy

Vaudeville performer Little Fitz and his ventriloquist’s puppet “Ziggy” are characters from a murder-mystery dinner party game called “Death by Chocolate.” I got to choose my character, and I wanted to be Little Fitz. I watched a video by Jeff Dunham where he explained how to do ventriloquism and I got a cat puppet to be my “Ziggy.” Here is a pre-game exchange, getting into character. To be true to Ziggy as required by the game, I had to portray Ziggy as a bit of a jerk. It was a lot of fun, and I think I might keep going, keep having fun with it.
https://youtu.be/Soy_p4Rr-Oc

What I’m reading (May 6, 2022)

In this video, I share 3 books that I am currently reading, and 2 books that are on my radar for books I want to read.

The Case of the Burgled Bundle, by Michael Hutchinson

Video book review: The Mighty Muskrats — Chickadee, Atim, Otter, and Sam — are on the case after the Treaty Bundle — centerpiece of a four-day-long ceremony among the National Assembly of Cree Peoples — is stolen. The Case of the Burgled Bundle stands as a particularly strong entry in author Michael Hutchinson’s Mighty Muskrats series. It offers a gripping, tight mystery that I think really speaks to Hutchinson’s deft ability as a writer.

‘To Catch a Cheat’ by Varian Johnson

To Catch a Cheat by Varian Johnson is an entertaining story about a youthful con artist. The protagonist, Jackson Greene, is determined to retire after an earlier successful heist that prevented school election wrong-doing.

Jackson and his crew are now being threatened by a doctored security video that appears to depict them flooding the entire middle school. To prevent the video being turned over to the principal, Jackson and his crew must engineer a heist of the answers for an upcoming test.

With this demand hanging over them, Jackson and “Gang Greene” are determined to uncover the real culprit(s). Who really flooded the school, and who is attempting to pressure them? An added complication concerns the fact that Jackson is being forced out of retirement. His friend Charlie de la Cruz had been prepared to take on leading the team, and Charlie has his own style of doing things.

This story will appeal to readers who enjoy complicated turns of plot, especially those who enjoy protagonists with a strong moral compass. As an added feature, the author, Varian Johnson, includes an explanation of several cultural references — including scenes from film and television — that relate to elements of the plot involving heists and schemes.

Readers may want to read The Great Greene Heist, which is set prior to this one, but To Catch a Cheat can be read on its own with the back-story easily understandable. I’d originally learned about this book from a librarian’s recommendation, and I’m looking forward to readers being able to check it out from our school library.

‘The Screaming Staircase’

With The Screaming Staircase (Disney-Hyperion, 2013) author Jonathan Stroud introduces young readers to an exciting adventure series set in a modern-day London that is beset by paranormal disturbances.

Young people with an ability to detect these supernatural entities are essential to psychic detection agencies that compete to combat London’s “Problem.”

In The Screaming Staircase, Lucy Carlyle becomes the newest recruit of Lockwood & Co., an agency staffed entirely by young people.

With agency founder Anthony Lockwood and researcher George Cubbins, Lucy investigates a mansion with a grisly reputation for multiple hauntings and deaths. She also attempts to solve a young woman’s decades-old murder.

This enjoyable first volume combined many of the ingredients I enjoyed in Stroud’s Bartimaeus books, including the first-hand observations of an engaging narrator. I recommend this book to young readers who like supernatural mysteries.

Disclosure of material connection: My taxes support my public library’s acquisition of this and other resources. I consider the access I enjoy to be a “priceless” return on my investment.

‘Rogues’ anthology of short fiction

During the recent “Winter Reads” program through Jackson County Library Services, participants were able to select a free “gently used” book for each reading log turned in.

My selection was Rogues, an anthology of short fiction edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois.

I was already partial toward anthologies of short fiction for the benefits they offered the reader: short stories, easy to read in one sitting, but with a variety that transcended the collected works of only a single author.

‘Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore’ by Robin Sloan

There is something odd about the San Francisco bookstore where Clay Jannon clerks overnight.

From shelves filled floor-to-ceiling — the equivalent of three floors — Clay retrieves books not sold but loaned to members of a mysterious club. In addition to tracking each volume they take, he must document their appearance and behavior.

Inside the books, “a solid matrix of letters,” “an undifferentiated jumble.”

Clay stumbles ever deeper into a centuries-old pursuit to unlock a secret code, firmly placed in a modern world of online search, crowdsourcing and 3D-imaging.

‘The London Eye Mystery’ by Siobhan Dowd

Books show up in unexpected places in an actively-used library, as patrons remove items from shelves and then set them down.

Locating and reshelving out-of-place books leads to serendipitous discoveries.

On a list of books about characters with autism I’d seen The London Eye Mystery, and mentally filed it under want-to-read. So when I saw it perched atop a magazine rack while straightening in Bellview library, I seized my opportunity.

Later, a member of a library listserv also mentioned the book, saying she would love to hear my thoughts.

‘The Sherlockian’ by Graham Moore

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore (Twelve, 2010) is a fast-paced mystery with parallel storylines that unfold in alternating chapters.

In present day, Harold has just been inducted into the Baker Street Irregulars, the preeminent society devoted to the study of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Harold attempts to locate a missing diary by Holmes’ creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The second storyline begins with Doyle’s decision to kill off his creation.

The death of Holmes at Reichenbach Falls is met with immediate public outcry, to Doyle’s considerable disgust.

Doyle’s storyline is chiefly concerned with three months that would have been documented by his missing diary. During that period, Doyle and his friend Bram Stoker (the creator of Dracula) attempt to solve the killings of young women. The deaths are linked by wedding dresses and by the image of a three-headed crow.

The Sherlockian can be requested in physical form through the Jackson County libraries and can also be enjoyed as an audio file through Overdrive/Library2Go.

Cross-posted to the Facebook page of Jackson County Library Services

Review: ‘On the Wrong Track’ by Steve Hockensmith

Advance praise by author Steve Hockensmith for Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz put me in mind to re-read Hockensmith’s Holmes on the Range.

Holmes on the Range tells the story of Gustav “Old Red” Amlingmeyer in frontier America, patterning himself after magazine-story detective Sherlock Holmes. To his brother Otto, “Big Red,” falls Dr. Watson’s task of chronicling the detective’s exploits.

A search of my library’s online catalog revealed the presence of a new (for me) adventure, On the Wrong Track (St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2007).

On the Wrong Track picks up where Holmes on the Range left off, with “Old Red” and “Big Red” seeking employment as Pinkerton detectives. The pair are hired as undercover operatives by the Southern Pacific Railroad.

The trip begins poorly -- “Old Red” is motion-sick -- and quickly goes from bad to worse with the abrupt appearance of a decapitated body. “Old Red” and “Big Red” must piece together a mystery that involves railroad bandits, mysterious cargo and passengers traveling with secrets.

Holmes on the Range and its sequel, On the Wrong Track, offer an inventive and unique approach to the exploits of Sherlock Holmes. A particular delight is the wild-west flavor that “Old Red” brings to the science of deduction: “detectifyin,’” he calls it. A touching subplot to On the Wrong Track involves “Big Red’”s reluctance to submit for publication his account of their earlier exploit.

Hockensmith’s books are also a tribute and testimonial to the power of stories: “Old Red” teaches himself a detective’s skills through his brother reading aloud whatever Holmes tales they can find on the frontier. From their original chance encounter with “The Red-Headed League,” “Old Red” and “Big Red” are reinventing themselves.

Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz

Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz (Razorbill, 2012) is the newest addition to my list of recommended books for people on the autism spectrum.

The book would also be a worthy addition to the young adult collection at a library.

The title character, Colin Fischer, uses the science of detection to decipher social situations: he examines the “crime scene” and analyzes clues to logically determine what is happening.

The school bully is accused of bringing a gun to school after it goes off on the school cafeteria. Fischer believes him to be innocent and decides to solve the mystery.

I could relate to Fischer’s viewpoint; like him, I observe human behavior as might what Lev Grossman describes as an “alien anthropologist” in his introduction to the book.

Colin Fischer is a worthy successor to fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The skills of detection with which he responds to daily life serve him well in approaching this mystery.

Fischer’s observations in his notebook and authors’ footnotes to the text add an informative perspective on the traits of Asperger’s syndrome.

Colin Fischer brings a fresh, unique viewpoint to situations faced by young adults. I echo the directive of Steve Hockensmith, author of Holmes on the Range: “Get back to those keyboards, guys. I want to find out what happens to Colin next!”

Disclosure of material connection: My taxes support my public library’s acquisition of this and other resources. I consider the access I enjoy to be a “priceless” return on my investment.

New fiction book about teen with Asperger’s

Fresh from earning an A in my Cuesta College course, Connecting Adolescents with Literature and Libraries, the Young Adult (YA) genre remains one that I gravitate toward naturally.

‘House Rules’ by Jodi Picoult

My feelings about House Rules by Jodi Picoult are mixed. First of all, the protagonist — a young man with Asperger syndrome — is 18 years old, but the cover art depicts a child.

The choice of cover art is symptomatic of a society that addresses autism as if only children had it. Its awareness of adults seems limited to those children who are aging out of services.

I experienced the novel as an audio recording, which enhanced its use of multiple narrators.

The story itself was entertaining — primarily a mystery/crime drama — but the mother interjects political tirades promoting a belief that vaccines cause autism.

‘Trueman Bradley’ advocates, entertains

Cover art: “Trueman Bradley: Aspie Detective” by Alexei Maxim Russell (Jessica Kingsley Publishers) 

In my desire to curate a definitive collection of books for people on the autism spectrum, I enjoy learning of and reading new titles.

Among the books I recommend is a growing list of fiction in which the main character has Asperger’s syndrome. Because they focus upon the experiences of one or few primary characters, I think they best illustrate what I and others say who are on the spectrum: “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”

“Trueman Bradley: Aspie Detective” combines detective fiction and fantasy to advocate for the abilities of people on the autism spectrum. It’s a welcome addition to my recommended stories that feature an Aspergian protagonist.

I enjoyed this book, which is written by Alexei Maxim Russell and is published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. It presents characteristics of Asperger’s syndrome as assets in a professional career. It uses dramatization to illustrate prejudice and misconceptions about people who are on the spectrum.

The protagonist, Trueman Bradley, has come to New York City in order to be a detective. He models himself after a detective he has read about in comic books.

I enjoyed the characterization of Bradley, especially the way he exhibits traits reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective Sherlock Holmes — a character who struck me as Aspergian.

Bradley is unfamiliar with Holmes but he has followed a comic book detective, reading every issue of the Slam Bradley comic book series. He leaves his small town and comes to New York City because it is where the Slam Bradley adventures are set. He later models himself after Dick Tracy.

When people remind Bradley of characters from the detective comic books, he gives them the names of those characters.

The fantasy aspect of the book is Bradley’s invention of equations that can direct him to pieces of evidence, identify suspects and eliminate unpleasant surprises. He programs his equations into a Dick Tracy-style wrist TV.

Bradley’s literal interpretation of expressions is an ongoing recurrence and it is a characteristic I relate to. Even when someone uses an expression with which I am familiar, I often consciously have to process what is said in order to arrive at the meaning.

I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to combine an entertaining storyline with advocacy and positive role-modeling of a character with Asperger’s syndrome.

Disclosure of material connection: I received a review copy of this book.