Tuff Fluff: The Case of Duckie's Missing Brain

Author/Illustrator: Scott Nash
Year: 2004
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Pages: 40
Reading Level: Beginning Reader (ages 4-8)

Genre: Picture Book/Mystery
Location: Los Attic
Time Period: Present (2004), a.k.a. 3:29, by the stopped watch on the wall

Plot: When Bluebell the stuffed bear comes to Tuff Fluff, Private Investigator, for help, Tuff Fluff is immediately on the case. Bluebell's friend Duckie was reading Bluebell a story when he suddenly lost the ability to speak. Now all Duckie can do is quack. Upon further investigation, Tuff finds out that Duckie's seam has come unsewn, and the fluff that made up his brain has been stolen. Is this the work of the residents of Beantown, an area of toys in Los Attic who think they are better than everyone else because they are stuffed with beans instead of stuffing? SPOILER! When Tuff Fluff, Bluebell, and Duckie confront the inhabitants of Beantown about the crime, they find that the residents of Beantown enjoy Duckie's stories too. Everyone in Los Attic bands together to find Duckie a new brain. Eventually, Bluebell donates some spare fluff to make a new brain for Duckie, and the Beantown residents contribute a bean as well. Duckie is recovered, and everyone joins together to hear him tell stories once again.

Comments: This is a fun appealing adventure story with an exciting tone. The story is told from Tuff Fluff's perspective, and children will enjoy trying to guess what will happen next. Besides the narration, the pictures are also engaging. They are simultaneously dark enough to match the mood, but bright enough to keep the story light-hearted. Fun details are added to each picture: a ceiling fan made out of a pencil eraser and paperclips, and houses made out of cardboard boxes.

As fun as this book is, it can also be off-putting as well. This is listed as a book for children ages 4-8, but it's also a chapter book disguised as a picture book. Each chapter is about two to three pages long, and is accompanied by many full page illustrations. Because of this, the book is really for older children in the age range. See the Red Flags section as well.

Themes: Cooperation, Stories, Mysteries, Toy Animals, Accepting others' differences.

Red Flags: SPOILERS! Duckie's brain is eventually found: it's a ball of fluff, marking the place in the book Duckie was reading to Bluebell. The stuffing just simply fell out. Before they can put the stuffing back in, however, a wind comes through the room and blows Duckie's stuffing brain into Bluebell's mouth, who promptly swallows it. This isn't too disgusting when one focuses on the fact that it is simply stuffing being swallowed by a stuffed bear, but the implications are kind of gross. Children would probably not be bothered by this fact, however.

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You

Author: Ally Carter
Year: 2006
Publisher: Hyperion
Pages: 284
Reading Level: Young Adult

Genre: Action/Adventure
Series Information: First of the Gallagher Girls novels
Location: The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women in Roseville, VA
Time Period: Present (2006)

Plot: Cammie Morgan is a second generation Gallagher Girl. She attends a top secret school for spies in Rosemont, Virginia. The residents of Rosemont think Gallagher is en elite private school for socialites, and they look down on anyone who goes there. When Cammie meets a cute town member named Josh while on a secret assignment, she can't tell him who she is. Josh likes Cammie because she not like any of the other girls at the local high school, and Cammie likes Josh because she gets to play the part of a normal girl instead of a genius spy in training. Things quickly get out of hand, however, and Cammie must decide where her loyalties truly lie: with her new boyfriend, or with her fellow classmates. SPOILER! Cammie eventually decides that she is tired of living a lie with Josh. She knows he won't like her if she tells him who she really is, so she decides to break up with him. She sneaks out of the school to talk to him, and is "kidnapped" in front of Josh by her covert operations teacher as part of the sophomore class final. Josh immediately tries to save Cammie, and learns the truth. The book ends with Cammie knowing that she truly belongs at the Gallagher Academy, but whether she and Josh can get back together remains uncertain. It is implied that Josh has been slipped a memory modification drug that will cause him not to remember the truth about Cammie.

Comments: This was a fun read. More adventure story than romance, teens will like the idea of a teenage spy who takes classes about how to blow things up instead of the usual subjects like art and history. The book has a good message as well: be true to yourself and your friends.

A book like this could be either very engrossing, or very badly written. The writing style was a little campy, but also fun and frivolous. Cammie, Josh, and Cammie's friends were all believable characters, even though they were put in unexpected and unfamiliar surroundings. An easy, light-hearted book that makes for great pleasure reading.

I did a little research on this book, and found that it's been optioned as a movie, so it may come out soon. The possible directors also directed The Princess Diaries and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which I believe are good read-alikes for this series.

Themes: Spies, First Love, Families, Friends, School, Being True to Yourself

Red Flags: None