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NEVER MIND! A TWIN NOVEL

Page history last edited by RichiesPicks 14 years, 7 months ago

18 September 2004 NEVER MIND! A TWIN NOVEL by Avi & Rachel Vail, HarperCollins, May 2004, ISBN: 0-06-054314-0; LIB. ISBN: 0-06-054315-9

 

"Mom, I guess, sent in a picture for my new school ID. When my homeroom teacher handed the cards out, I thought I'd gotten somebody else's. Some smiley girl with such a large forehead it's practically a five-head. I recognized the shirt; that was my only tip-off--well, that and my name underneath. Mom says to just be myself, but if I can't even recognize myself in a photograph from last summer, how am I supposed to have any clue who I am?"

 

The fact that the statuesque, rather popular (and quite tidy) Meg Runyon is to be found amid the cream of the seventh grade academic elite at Fisher High School, while the small-for-his-age, single-friended (and rather messy) Edward Runyon skateboards and daydreams his way through Charlton Street Alternative School belies the fact that the pair (albeit an unmatched pair) are twins. Buoyed by the new school year's arrangements which allow them to stay well clear of each other, it is a single telephone call that plunges the pair into five uproariously funny days of wild schemes, imaginary bands and boyfriends, thoroughly baffled parents, a high profile music executive, a janitor turned agent, and a sea of dip at an upscale Manhattan party.

 

But first, that phone call:

 

Edward:

 

"I was heading back to my room when the phone rang. The trick was I had to race for it. Not that it was for me. Hardly ever is. Probably be for Meg. Which was the whole reason for getting to it first.

" 'Harry's Pizzeria,' I said into the kitchen phone. 'How can I help you?'

" 'Harry's Pizzeria?' came a voice. A girl's voice. I could hardly hear it. She spoke like a two-inch elf with serious laryngitis.

" 'Sure is,' I said. 'We deliver in five hours. Plus two minutes more for each additional topping. Sausage. Pepperoni. Tofu tidbits. Tar marbles. Cat hairballs are extra.'

" 'I'm sorry. I must have dialed the wrong number.'

"She hung up.

"And called back ten seconds later.

" 'Hello?' I said.

" 'Is Meg there?'

" 'My twin sister?'

" 'I didn't know Meg had a twin. What school do you go to?'

" 'The Manhattan Detention Home for Troubled Boys.'

"There was a pause. 'Is that really true?' she asked in her whispery voice.

" 'Hey, dude, if it's not true, you get a free cow pie at Harry's Pizzeria. Comes with extra cat hairball toppings.'

For a moment she--whoever it was--thought about that. Then, 'Can I speak to Meg, please?'

"Who's calling?'

" 'Kimberly.'

"I'm not sure if you are on her A-list of callers.'

"Another pause. 'May I please speak with Meg?'

" 'Oh yes, yes, please, of course you can!' I cried. 'Hang on.'

" 'Meg!' I bellowed. 'Phone!'

"My sister picked up the phone in the hall.

"It's all right, Edward,' she shouted. 'I have it. You can hang up.'

" 'Sure,' I said. Then I made this click sound with my tongue. You won't believe how hard I practiced that sound. It fools Meg every time. Next I rotated the receiver away from my mouth so she wouldn't hear my breathing.

"Then, hoping my folks wouldn't come by, I listened to the whole conversation."

 

Amid the zaniness of those five days following the phone call, NEVER MIND! brings to the surface (and satirizes) the popularity issues that are so familiar to the kids in fourth through eighth grade who will find this book such a delight. Meg's quandry about how to deal with the architects of the High Achievers Club, how to deal with "unpopular" students such as Esther Grossbart, and her thoughts about how her longtime friends at her former school would perceive her behavior elevate the book to a valuable piece of children's literature.

 

Written in the alternating voices of the twins, it must have similarly been a delight for these two authors to work and scheme together like this. (Having gotten to spend time with Avi, I can tell you there's more than a little Edward in him.)

 

NEVER MIND! (a term that I've certainly heard a million times--complete with exclamation point--from our girls) joins the A-list of sibling stories for kids.

 

Richie Partington

http://richiespicks.com

BudNotBuddy@aol.com

 

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