KEY POINTS:
If you have a young son in the house who seems focused on things other than Lego and television, this novel may produce a few eureka moments. For everyone else it will be a novel that poses more questions than the 12-year-old protagonist, Frankie Parsons, asks at 10pm.
Life is pretty simple for Frankie in the utopian, anyplace setting that De Goldi has created for him. Gone are the usual psychotic bullies, the feral teachers, the arguing parents who normally populate novels of this ilk, and in their place is the Simpsons-like bus driver, the friendly local dog, good friend and super nerd Gigs, happy mum, cranky sister, Uncle George (dad), and an endless supply of interchangeable aunties. It is a structured, easily navigated world.
But Frankie's Truman Show existence is about to experience some technical difficulties. Enter Sydney, the new girl, who insists on hanging around - in a wholesome, cricket-ball-throwing fashion. In the course of completing a book project entitled The Valiant Ranger, the two look destined to grow closer. Reading between the lines, it looks to be curtains for dear old Gigs, as Sydney attempts to usurp him as Frankie's best friend. Only time will tell.
While Frankie and Gigs are supposed to be nerds, there are, nevertheless, plausibility issues with their characterisation. Where are the cigarettes, the PlayStations, the cellphones and iPods? Where is the attitude, the internet, the encyclopaedic knowledge of Star Wars, the inevitable secret stash of contraband? It's nowhere to be seen.
Divesting these characters of the things that modern pre-teen boys have, and crave, erodes their credibility markedly - either they arrived from the set of The Waltons in a time machine, or they are the most naive 12-year-olds in literature. This is marketed as a crossover book for children and adults alike. Those who are most likely to enjoy it, though, are mums of 10 to 12-year-old boys - and not your average rugby, running and maths kind of small men, but the type who are a little more sophisticated, literate and share their feelings.
The 10pm Question
By Kate De Goldi (Longacre $29.99)
* Steve Scott is an Auckland reviewer.
