Beneath

December 22, 2014
Smith (Mutation) delivers a tightly plotted mystery that incorporates themes of nonconformity and social rebellion. Pat O'Toole, 13, is not surprised when his 18-year-old brother, Coop, disappears. Coop has always been quirky: he is an avid tap dancer, collects flashlights, can't drive, won't email, and once dug a tunnel more than a mile long in their Virginia neighborhood before a gas line explosion nearly killed the two of them. Pat's parents are preoccupied with their breakup, careers, and new romances, so when Pat begins receiving digital voice recordings from Coop, he sneaks away to New York City to find his brother. Clues lead Pat to an alternative society that exists underground, but he soon discovers Coop has been drawn into an exclusive and dangerous group called the Pod. The narrative is constructed as Pat's "hybrid journal," which has been "transcribed" from the brothers' digital audio recordings, putting their voices front and center. Humor, a perilous setting, intense relationships, and the slow unveiling of the machinations at work behind the Pod give the story emotion and grit. Ages 10â14. Agent: Barbara S. Kouts, Barbara S. Kouts Agency.

January 1, 2015

Gr 6-9-Fans of the "Tunnels" series (Scholastic, 2008) will enjoy Smith's latest. Pat and Coop were always close. Coop even let Pat help with his secret tunnel project under Washington, DC. But after an accidental gas explosion, Coop runs away. One year later, Pat receives a package with a recorder and a message that leads him on a mission to find and rescue his old friend. Smith spends much of the first 100 pages on backstory, though it is imperative to understanding the relationship between Pat and Coop had and why Pat is so motivated to travel alone to New York City to find him. This makes the pacing slow at first, but it increases dramatically once Pat makes it to the society under the city. The second half is better paced and action-packed. Beneath hits all the notes of an underground novel, with several allusions to classics such as Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth and H.G. Wells's The Time Machine. Avid lovers of adventure fiction will enjoy this quick read.-Patrick Tierney, Dr. Martin Luther King Elementary School RI

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