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Reviewed by:
  • Lizzie! by Maxine Kumin
  • Deborah Stevenson
Kumin, Maxine. Lizzie!; illus. by Elliott Gilbert. Seven Stories, 2014. [160p]. Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-60980-518-0 $21.95 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-60980-519-7 $21.95 Reviewed from galleys M Gr. 4-6.

Two years ago, when Lizzie was nine, her life changed in an instant when a diving accident left her with a damaged spine, leaving her to need a wheelchair or a pair of canes to get around. She and her mother moved to Florida after Lizzie’s accident, near a roadside zoo where Lizzie enjoys tending the animals. Strange happenings are afoot at the zoo, though; the kindly owner is selling the land to a smooth-talking businessman, Jeb Blanco, and Lizzie begins to realize that Blanco may be up to no good when she finds a nearby building containing exotic monkeys, cared for by Blanco’s nephew. A concerned Lizzie involves Digger, a retired cop who’s her honorary grandfather; together they realize that the monkeys are illegally imported golden lion tamarins, and that Blanco may have figured out that Lizzie knows too much. Noted poet Kumin has produced work for young people before, but this middle-grades mystery is a departure from her usual picture-book-length outing. The animal aspect of the mystery has considerable appeal, and Lizzie’s uninflected [End Page 463] candor about her disability and chatty openness make her narration accessible. The story, however, is muddy and undifferentiated, with too much thrown together and too little focus and momentum; the elements are unconvincing and often uninvolving, and the book loses track of its own characters at times (there’s no wrap-up with the kindly zoo owner, for instance, despite the fact that he was at the center of all of this). Readers may empathize with Lizzie and her concern for all critters, but Gibbs’ Belly Up (BCCB 6/10) or Hiaasen’s Chomp (BCCB 5/12) are better mysteries for animal lovers. Occasional illustrations, line drawings touched with yellow and orange, add some liveliness.

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