Convinced that the fatal accident she witnessed at the basketball game was not accidental, thirteen-year-old Chelsey, a paraplegic, and her unusual friend Jack join forces to prove it was a deliberate murder.
Chelsey Bernard, 13, is not your average kid. Confined to a wheelchair, she attends her local public high school, goes to basketball games and makes use of her community's bus service for the handicapped in order to get around independently. Little wonder that when she witnesses a fatal accident and is convinced that the victim didn't just fall but was pushed, she sets out to solve the murder herself. And does so, befriending a misunderstood boy along the way. Gorman's first novel is uneven; as a story about fitting in and about coping with handicaps, it is laudable. As a mystery, it falls short of the mark, with too many convenient incidents. And while the makings of a truly thrilling story are here, they are not used until the last chapters, when the story culminates in an unrealistic chase scene. Nevertheless, an adequate first effort, which may be of particular interest to the handicapped. Ages 10-14. (March) Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
Gr 5-8 Chelsey, the gutsy 13-year-old heroine of this fast-paced, suspenseful mystery, has been confined to a wheelchair since her automobile accident at the age of 3. Because her wheelchair does not fit into the bleachers at her high-school gymnasium, she is in a unique position to see a murder take place behind the seats at a local basketball game. Punky green-haired Jack, the tough new boy in school, is the only other witness to the crime. The two team up, investigate, and discover that the teen-aged victim was murdered because he knew too much about a drug ring at a town pizza parlor. In a tense showdown, Jack takes a ride on Chelsey's lap in her wheelchair to escape from and eventually capture the two men responsible for the crime. Chelsey is an upbeat, sympathetic protagonist. Since she lacks self-pity and copes maturely with her disability, this is not a ``problem novel.'' Rather, it's a good suspense novel in which a handicap is treated in a matter-of-fact way. It should appeal to the same audience as Roberts' The View from the Cherry Tree (Atheneum, 1975). Judy Greenfield, Rye Free Reading Room, N.Y. Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
