Shooting Stars Everywhere (review)

Victor's thirteenth birthday brings him a journal, in which he reluctantly begins to write, and a mysterious and threatening typed message; it also brings increasing determination for him to jump off the high dive at the local pool before his friend comes back from vacation (if Victor doesn't, he loses a bet and has to kiss an offputting girl). It's at the pool that he meets a brazen, unpredictable redhead called Deborah, whom he nicknames D.; as the anonymous messages keep coming, D. joins Victor in his sleuthing to discover their source, but Victor soon realizes that D. may be the biggest puzzle of all. Code-inclined readers will catch early on the hint that D. is the author of the anonymous messages, which are being sent to various tenants in Victor's building, but they'll want more explanation for the activity than the book provides. In general, the plot surrounding D. (who has lied about her name, as about much of her life) is more confusing than enigmatic, seeming contrived for novelistic effect, and it's not clear why Victor has become so firmly attached to her in the span of a mere eighteen days. It's still entertaining to sort out the clues within the messages, however, and this German import provides a rich daily-life picture of the eccentric collection of characters that inhabit Victor's apartment building. The quiet explorations of Victor's father's loneliness since the dissolution of his marriage and Victor's fond and understandable hopes that his parents will reunite add dimension to the domestic picture and make understandable Victor's admiration of the brash and creative D. This may therefore suit readers looking for a less intricate puzzle mystery than Balliett's Chasing Vermeer (BCCB 7/04) or those who enjoy an offbeat story of friendship.