Module 8 – The Big Splash

Citation:

Ferraialo, J. D. (2008). The big splash.  New York City: Scholastic Audio.

Summary:

Middle school is tough. Very tough. In this cleverly calculated novel, Ferriaolo has created an entire “underground” world in which students fear being the next “hit” of Vinny Biggs—the leader of all “illegal” activities at the school. (AKA, candy sales and forged hall passes.) The lead character, Matt Stevens, is a 7^th grade private detective that Vinny has enlisted the help of in retrieving his good luck charm from his ex-girlfriend. Normally Matt would pass on getting involved with Vinny, but $20 is a bit difficult to walk away from. When Matt approaches her in the hallway to coax it out of her, he unwittingly becomes caught in the middle of “hit” on the elusive Nikki “Fingers.” (AKA, Nikki’s pants were squirted with a water gun, and now she’s the butt of pee pee jokes.) Wishing he could really just walk away from the whole mess, Matt ends up hired by three different people to find out who’s behind the “hit” so they can be brought to justice. It’s a madhouse at Franklin Middle School, and everyone is a suspect. The author keeps you guessing right up until the end to find out who would want to see Nikki go down.

Impressions:

The author has done a very clever job of creating the overly dramatic, scary jungle that is middle school. Teenagers will be able to relate, but also chuckle at the familiar caricatures at Franklin MS. Adults can’t help but laugh and nod their head as they reminisce on just how important everything seemed in middle school. Sean Schemmel is superior in bringing this story to life with a variety of voices for the different characters. He gives them a very stereotypical feel with familiar “mobster” dialects which I think children will really enjoy. There is also a wonderful backstory drawn for Matt Stevens’ life at home without a father, which children being raised in a single family home can relate to. The nature of the changing relationships between the characters as they grow up and begin to establish their own sense of identity as a young adult is another familiar struggle that teenagers will be able to identify with.

Usage in a library:

This book could be paired with a mystery party and book talk. Students could play the role of detective as they embark on a scavenger hunt solving trivia mysteries with the use of databases and library books. Other elements of the mystery party could include playing the board game Clue, and/or watching a mystery film. There’s also the possibility of putting together a mystery puzzle as a group, solving riddles, or trying to guess the culprit in short mystery stories to win prizes.

Review:

Vinnie Biggio was once every bully’s victim, but for the past year he’s been the capo of the Franklin Middle School underworld, running operations in everything from plagiarized reports to contraband candy. In a stunning turn of events, his most feared enforcer, Nikki “Fingers” Finnegan, has been shot down in the hall, a victim of her own m.o.—public pants-soaking with a water gun—in a humiliation from which no middle schooler recovers. It’s up to Matt Stevens, the Philip Marlow of the “The Frank,” to bring Nikki’s assailant to justice without taking a socially fatal squirt to the crotch himself. Ferraiolo shines in this debut novel, working the noir tropes for all they’re worth, from the cleverly typecast students (hard-boiled reporters and shady dames) to the profusion of sardonic similes (“Gretchen was like a poorly fed show poodle: pretty, well groomed, and mean”). This is no slick gimmick: Ferraiolo doesn’t exaggerate by much when he parallels junior-high character assassination with taking a bullet; as middle-schoolers know, either can wipe your name from the social roster. Moreover, the myster itself is cagily constructed to keep readers guessing pretty much ‘til the last bell. A couple of enigmas are left unresolved, and they’re significant enough to leave readers expecting a sequel. Ferraiolo better cough up the goods or watch his back.

Review Citation:

Bush, E. (2008). The big splash. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 62(3), 116.