Children's Book Review - Room One by Andrew Clements

Andrew Clements is also the author of the fabulously successful children's book Frindle.  His latest book is a mystery set in a rural Nebraska town. Clements captures poignantly the town's struggle to survive as young families move away and more and more family farms face the auction block.  Instead of dwelling on the negatives, Clements looks into the hearts and souls of these hardworking people and see kindness and hope. His young hero is a courageous sixth-grader who must solve a mystery to save a friend and help a family devastated by war. These issues may seem heavy for young readers, but Clements presents them sensitively, carefully and with humor. Like most of his books, this one evolves around school problems, in this case what happens to a town when the last school closes. The ending is upbeat without being sappy.  I read this with my 12-year-old son and it provided many opportunities to talk about America's heartland, the economic pressures facing our country and how a war in Iraq impacts even a little town in Nebraska. This book is geared towards the 10-12 year-old crowd.