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A review by pkadams
The Danger Box by Blue Balliett
3.0
Over the past few years, Blue Balliett has entertained young, middle readers with mysteries that are suspenseful and full of puzzles while providing some sophisticated cultural references for children. In this story, Blue pushes her boundaries a bit while maintaining her signature style. Set in rural Michigan the reader meets Zoomy, a 12 year old living with his grandparents, who help him cope and accept his pathological myopia and slight autism. He keeps his world in order by maintaining lists. However his lists can't completely help when his good-for-nothing father, whom he has never met, shows back up under mysterious circumstances with a box. What is inside the "danger box" as Zoomy calls it, is a puzzle. He and his friend Lorrol try solving the origins of the danger box.
In what we've come to expect from Blue Balliett, she puts a historical figure in the center of the mystery, allowing young readers to learn a little bit about history, science, and how ideas change the world. Adults figure more in this story than the past, but as always there are kid-size puzzles and codes that engage young readers as they move through this suspenseful and fast-paced novel.
In what we've come to expect from Blue Balliett, she puts a historical figure in the center of the mystery, allowing young readers to learn a little bit about history, science, and how ideas change the world. Adults figure more in this story than the past, but as always there are kid-size puzzles and codes that engage young readers as they move through this suspenseful and fast-paced novel.