July 2009, MacMillan Children's Books
263 pages
Review copy
Children's 9+
Clouds: 2/5
Cushions: 3/5
Pencils: 5/5
Smiles: 5/5
Tissues: 2/5
Yunaleska's recommended rating ♥♥♥♥♥
The cover provided the first clue as to what Wilma's first story entails. She looks a sweet girl, with her beloved dog Pickle always by her side. Sweet she is - mishaps follow her around, for she's very inquisitive. As an orphan, with only one clue as to her parents identity, life at Cooper Island Lowside Institute for Woeful Children isn't a barrel of laughs. Wilma is obsessed with the life of the island's most famous detective. Imagine how excited she gets when, thanks to an adoption by a strange mannered lady, Wilma crosses over to the other side of Cooper Island (a great adventure in itself) and bumps into her legendary Theodore P Goodman. Busy trying to solve a jewellery theft, Mr Goodman attempts to dissuade Wilma from getting under his feet. However, Wilma is determined to become his assistant, and sets about hunting down clues to prove how much of a help she can be.
Clues for the reader are revealed on the front cover in squares which are heat sensitive: popping a finger over the dark patches (or simply leaving the book in the sun on a warm, summer's day) makes small illustrations appear. Not that they made much sense me to before reading the book, which is full of fun pictures that bring the characters to life.
Although there are a lot of edge-of-the seat moments, Wilma's first adventure is full of laughs. Here's an extract showing the style of writing, taken from page 77
'Sadly for Cooper [Island], their place namer was a scruffy and disinterested lad called Brian whose lack of imagination was breathtaking, and as a result there are villages on Cooper called terrible things like Bleeuurgh, Little Meaning and Isitnearlylunchyet.'
This humour skirts around less pleasant issues of crime cases, such as murder, torture of innocent characters by the villains (who all come under the umbrella label of Criminal Elements) and deftly avoids cursing.
Wilma's bubbly personality affects the lives of everyone she meets. Her confidence is strong and mostly unwavering, even when events don't quite as planned she tries her hardest to get herself out of trouble. Her spirit is infectious, as a reader after reading her exploits I felt more able to tackle whatever life throws at me.
The revelation at the end after the crime is solved about Wilma's background shows that there will hopefully be many more mysteries for Wilma Tenderfoot to help solve on her quest for the truth. The next one, Wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Putrid Poison is due out January 2010.
Until I checked out her website, I never realised who Emma Kennedy was. Writing isn't her only career, she's starred in many TV shows and films. (Note: the site does have a warning that viewers need to be 16 years or older, but that doesn't show up on this direct link). Check out her site here.
Liked this? Try Chosen Sister by Ardyth DeBruyn
1 comment:
Ooo - this looks fantastic!
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