The Fourth Stall
Chris Rylander
Walden Pond Press, 2011
$15.99, Hardcover
978-0061994968
April
7th, 2012
Genre:
Mystery
Age: 8+
Description:
If you need something Mac is the person who can get it for you. Need a hall
pass? You got it. Need protection from bullies? Mac’s got you covered.
Unfortunately when young Fred approaches Mac he finds his business in trouble
when he takes on the case to protect Fred from the legendary (is he even real?)
Staples—a bully so bad he’s supposedly be around for years, no one knows his
real name, and no one has ever seen him. Mac and his best friend and financial
manager, Vince, have been saving all of their money from solving problems to
purchase Cubs tickets if they ever make the World Series. This year looks like
the year that that might happen for the first time in forever. However, in
order to protect Fred they have to dip into their cash flow when they hire the
services of the nine strongest and scariest bullies in the school. Soon Staples
starts making threats and when Mac’s money is stolen from his house he begins
to suspect that there is a snitch in his own inner circle. Can Mac figure out
who it is and how to stop Staples?
Opinion:
Adults and movie fans will love the play on The
Godfather especially with the cover—the red ‘o’ and the roll of toilet
paper (since Mac’s office is in the fourth stall of an unused restroom on
campus). This novel overall was entertaining. However at 300 pages it might
have gone on a bit too long as it lagged at some times. The Godfather-like elements also might go way over the heads of
most young readers, especially this idea of a sixth grader calling a “hit” on
the main accomplice of Staples—a boy known as The Collector who beats kids up
if they don’t pay up. However, any kids who like mysteries and crime plots will
probably get a kick out of the story. The end refers to a girl (darn girls
always cause problems) but that is a story for another time . . . which in fact
is the story of the sequel—The Fourth
Stall, Part II.
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