Friday, August 28, 2009

The Writing on the Wall


Author: Wendy Lichtman
Pages: 240
Published: Greenwillow, July 2008
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Cover Score: B+
Overall Grade: A-

It's the second semester of eighth-grade, and algebra-loving Tess has more on her hands than ever. Richard the bully is out to get her, a strange new girl is acting pretty suspicious, and then there's the graffiti wall behind the school, where Tess finds mysterious messages in number codes that lead her to an arson within the school. But who did it, and were they purposefully meant for Tess? On top of it all, Tess is still trying to figure out her crush, Damien, and her best friends are disappointed in her danger-seeking behavior regarding the graffiti wall. Can Tess figure out the equation before it's too late?
My thoughts: When I read the first book in this promising new series, Secrets, Lies, and Algebra, I instantly loved all of the believable characters, realistic dialogue, and real-life situations that Tess and her friends found themselves in. The same applied to The Writing on the Wall. The plot was smooth, quick, flowing and easy to follow, and once again, I loved Tess. Her honesty, quirky personality, and great voice made the book so much more fun to read.
In fact, The Writing on the Wall was even better than the first book. The mystery and graffiti aspects made the story line more unique and capturing, and I loved seeing new characters in the plot. As well, I loved seeing some of the characters change in an apparent way.
Hopefully, there are more books in this series! Next time, I would like to see a longer plot with a few more twists, turns and red herrings to make the story a little more interesting and to make the book's surprise ending a little more shocking.
Overall, The Writing on the Wall is a book I'd easily recommend to middle-grade students, and I hope there's more adventures for Tess in the works!

Must-Read! Check it Out! Don't Bother

9 comments:

Kirthi said...

wow, that sounds like a great book, I'll try it. thanks for the suggestion!

Pam said...

This sounds like a fun read. Kind of a middle school version of DaVinci Code with the code breaking...Cool.

holdenj said...

It sounds like a great series. I think it's great to have a young female protagonist who likes Math! Way to go! Nice review.

Anonymous said...

Great sounding books. I'd love to read these. wandanamgreb(at)gmail(dot)com

Adelaide said...

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Jenny N. said...

It sounds good and it seems like a book my little sis would like to read.

Nancye said...

Your review makes me want to read this book even more! I like realistic characters in the books I read, so this is right up my alley

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Paradox said...

I've never heard of a book like this before! It sounds very original and I love mysteries!

L said...

This book sounds pretty interesting. I've never read a book like this and I love the originality of it.