Review by New York Times Review
THE YEAR MIGHT BE 1953, but in Megan Frazer Blakemore's "The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill," Hazel Kaplansky has to put up with the same baloney that many a contemporary fifth grader faces. She's sick of dealing with mean-girl bullies and getting stuck playing the triangle in music class. The brainy and impulsive girl thinks that if she exposes the new town gravedigger as a Communist, everyone from her inattentive parents to Senator McCarthy himself will recognize her as the heroine she's meant to be. As in her earlier middle-grade novel, "The Water Castle," Blakemore features a young outsider with a mystery to solve in a small New England town. Though "The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill" doesn't have quite the same level of enchantment as "The Water Castle," it is a thought-provoking yet gentle exploration of what happens to a community when "a whisper becomes a rumor becomes a fact." Hazel has lived in Maple Hill, Vt., her whole life. Memory's Garden cemetery, which her horticulture-obsessed parents manage, is her playground. Since her best friend moved to Arizona, her greatest confidants are three statues she calls Tabitha, Abitha and Babitha. To prepare for the possibility of a Russian attack and distract herself from her loneliness, Hazel makes a fallout shelter out of a mausoleum and daydreams about the day she'll escape Maple Hill forever. "The Spy Catchers of Maple Hill" is as much a painting of small-town life during the McCarthy era as it is a tribute to the great girl detectives of children's literature. Like Harriet the Spy, Hazel carries around a notebook to record her observations. She's read Kay Tracey and Trixie Beiden mysteries. And, of course, she worships Nancy Drew. "Nancy Drew taught real sleuthing techniques, and Trixie Belden taught you that you should always trust your hunches, but Hazel couldn't think of one single, solitary useful thing she had learned from 'Little Women.'" While Nancy Drew has her friends Bess Marvin and George Fayne to help her solve mysteries, Hazel has Samuel Butler, an odd newcomer whose parents' scandalous relationship is still fodder for town gossip. Together, they try to uncover how badly Communism has spread through Maple Hill. Research-loving Samuel is a bucket of cold water on Hazel's impetuousness. But even his friendship can't prevent her from making a terrible mistake. Like Senator McCarthy himself, Hazel "points fingers first and asks questions later, if at all." Hazel is predictably precocious - sometimes even hyperbolically so. Only a very unusual fifth grader would refer to the Geneva Convention and know the name of the man who sent Al Capone to jail for tax evasion. And yet, her know-it-all personality is not stale. When she tells Samuel, "What's the point in modesty? I'll be modest when other folks start to realize how remarkable I am," readers will laugh, regardless of how many times they've encountered Hazel's like before. Though what Hazel wants to be when she grows up changes, she knows for sure she does not want her mother's life. Lydia Kaplansky is the most well-developed adult character in the novel. She once dreamed of earning a doctorate, doesn't attend school "Mom Events" and takes a group of "Concerned Mothers" to task for turning neighbors against one another. However, despite her strong will, Lydia has succumbed to myopic social norms. "Sometimes the world isn't set up to give us everything we want," she tells Hazel. "It's changing, and I hope it will be better for you. I just couldn't see a way to be a wife and a mother and an academic." The rest of the cast is rounded out with characters who both conform to and play off small-town stereotypes. The elderly garage owner Mr. Wall dispenses time-tested advice, and the icy town matriarch, of course, ends up melting a little in the end. In contrast, the spinster librarian turns out to be a Mrs., and Hazel's distracted dad shows up for her in a big way. Hazel's runaway imagination causes her to make a hurtful assumption, but her overactive brain also helps her ease her best friend's heartache and believe in a future where she could very well be the first female F.B.I. agent. "Sometimes we want to believe something so badly, we see what we want to see instead of what's there," Hazel's father tells her. "Then again, maybe if we believe in something enough, maybe it is real." CHELSEY PHILPOT'S young adult novel, "Even in Paradise," will be published in October.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [May 11, 2014]
Review by Booklist Review
Hazel has a bit of Harriet the Spy in her. She's not terribly likable, and she loves to snoop. She'd defend her snooping, however. It's 1953, and Joe McCarthy is telling the country that there are Communists under every rock. And there are lots of rocks in the cemetery Hazel's family owns. Hazel is quite sure that the new grave digger is a Commie spy, and Hazel has enough self-confidence to figure she can prove it. When Samuel, a boy from an old Maple Hill family, comes back to town and seems equally smart, she's shaken. But he becomes an ally, willing to share his own deductive skills. Blakemore covers a lot of territory here the Red Scare, fragile Samuel's family history, Hazel's mother's ambitions and sometimes the individually interesting stories give the narrative a disjointed feel. However, Hazel is that odd bird, an annoying heroine that readers will still root for, especially as she changes and grows. There's lots to talk about here, subjects both public and personal, making this a great choice for book clubs or class discussion, and an author's note offers more about the era.--Cooper, Ilene Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Blakemore (The Water Castle) sets her story in a seldom-explored era in middle-grade fiction: the autumn of 1953, the height of McCarthyism. Hazel Kaplansky is a smart, awkward, and fervent fifth-grader who grows obsessed with sniffing out Communism in her small Vermont town and proving that the taciturn gravedigger at her family's cemetery, Paul Jones, is a Communist spy. Teaming up with Samuel, an unusual new boy in town ("Some people are more fragile than others," Hazel's mother warns her), she plunges into solving the mystery of Mr. Jones, dreaming of the day she will report him to Senator McCarthy. Blakemore's choice of perspective is refreshing and well-executed; readers will sympathize with Hazel's patriotic passion while anticipating her downfall. Rich in period details, strong on family/friendship dynamics, with a cast of well-drawn secondary characters (Samuel, in particular, is sensitively rendered), the book demonstrates how easy it is to get caught up in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. A light-handed yet thoughtful presentation of a difficult time in U.S. history, Blakemore's story inspires reflection and discussion. Ages 8-12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Starred Review. Gr 4-6-The year is 1953, and fifth grader Hazel Kaplansky is a girl in search of a mystery. When rumors begin flying that the Russians are operating a spy ring right in her small New England town, Hazel knows she is the girl for the case. She's the smartest, most relentless person she knows, and she's ready to put her surveillance skills to the test. Her number-one suspect is the mysterious Mr. Jones, the recently hired gravedigger in her parents' cemetery. With the help of the new boy at school, Samuel, Hazel sets out to expose the truth. Narrator Meredith Orlow perfectly captures the spirit of this Cold War-era story, portraying neighbors turning against neighbors and whispers becoming rumors and lies. Orlow uses distinct voices for everyone, allowing each character's unique personality to shine. The result is a twisting, turning period mystery featuring a dynamic heroine in search of answers during an unsettling time in American history.-Anne Bozievich, Friendship Elementary School, Glen Rock, PA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
The year is 1953. The place is small-town Vermont. Joe McCarthy suspects there is a Communist behind every bush in America, and Maple Hill fifth grader Hazel Kaplansky is friendless after her one best friend moves to Arizona. Scorned by the popular girls and always relegated to playing the lowly triangle in music class, Hazel's one consolation is that she's smart -- "a remarkable person trapped in an unremarkable package." And then a stranger comes to town, one Samuel Butler, who may be even smarter than Hazel. What's more, he has a mysterious background that the grownups know but Hazel doesn't -- irresistibly tantalizing to Hazel, whose secret dream is to become a girl sleuth. The two kids team up in hopes of catching the Russian spy who is reputed to be operating in Maple Hill. As they try to reconcile Hazel's fanciful hypotheses with Samuel's solid research, they become friends. The sense of the time period is seamlessly portrayed, and the limited third-person narrative allows readers to see Hazel's superciliousness as well as her insecurities. But the real strength of Blakemore's (The Water Castle) novel is the underlying juxtaposition of a seemingly pleasant small town and that community's harsh reaction to those who are different. betty carter (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
