Elvis & Olive

Elvis and Olive
by: Stephanie Watson
2008
Hardback, 230 pg, kids print size

I've noticed that we have some after-school home-work doers pop into Menchie's so yesterday I asked one of the young boys (the one with glasses) what was a book he read recently that he liked.  He thought and said, Elvis and Olive.  I asked him if it made him laugh and he said yes.  So he wrote it down for me and today i went to check it out from the library and it just happened to be on display!  I rode home pretty excited and read chapters in between doing Saturday chores while icing my neck.
Oh, what a disappointment.  I was not disappointed in the author's attempt to communicate cleverly and effectively a story told from the viewpoint of two 10-year-olds.  What made me sad was the story line.  Summer vacation for kids should be fun but what i read was disturbing to me as a 47 year old reader and i thought i would never want my soon to be 10 year old niece reading this.  These kiddos experienced abandonment, deceit, infidelity, betrayal, hate, sadness, theft, confusion, destruction of property, invasion of privacy... and then a few pages of somewhat reconciliation at the end.  Looks like i need to become more familiar with books at this age-level so i can recommend a good one.