Blue Balliett - The Danger Box - Book Review

                                           The Danger Box
The first fifty pages of this book were particularly intense - I found myself being pulled into the feelings of the main character quite quickly. The book delivers a very unusual start, one of intrigue and mystery, which the author is renowned for from her excellently written, previously published books.

The story is well written and an absolute joy to read. The book is filled with many beautiful analogies, like the exquisite feeling of gentle rain tapping you on the shoulder every time you encounter one of them. The story is told through the eyes of a young boy named Zoomy. He's a boy that struggles with OCD and battles with pathological myopia. The depiction and description of Zoomy enables you to be sucked into his world, drawing you deeply into the plot and leaving you totally engrossed.


A boy in a small town who has a different way of seeing.
A mischievous girl who won't stay in one place.
A mysterious notebook .
A fire.
A stranger.
A death.

That's just a small part of the book. The story actually starts when a mysterious package, that has been left by Zoomy's father who he has never met before, lands on his doorstep. This changes Zoomy's quiet sedate life into a full blown adventure, where he has to solve problems (as the main character in most of Blue Balliett's books have to) and face danger right to the very end.

Every time I read another new book by Blue Balliett, I really do want to read more. The books are written in an incredibly smart and intelligent way to engross all readers from young to old. The author always bases the story around a famous person - slipping in specific facts and details which make you want to know more about them such as Banksy or Darwin. Each person is researched particularly well in order for them to be incorporated into the mystery and suspense of the storyline. This book will definitely be within the top ten reads of this year - I hope it gets a chance to be published here in the U.K too.

Book published by Scholastic Press U.S  2 September 2010

Comments

Blue said…
Thanks for the lovely review. Your readers can find out more about The Danger Box by going to my new website at www.blueballiettbooks.com.

-Blue
Hello Blue,

Thanks for popping by I have popped a link on my author links list. Looking forward to reading the next book. I hope it's soon!

V