The Jigsaw Jungle

Narrator Erin Cahill's character voices extract maximum emotion from this scrapbook of receipts, video transcripts, emails, and texts. Twelve-year-old Claudia uses her collection to tell the story of her father's disappearance, its titanic impact on her family, and the treasure hunt he left behind. While time stamp details, addresses, and long lists add realism to the print version, they are tedious and difficult to follow by ear. Also, the story itself has a tonal struggle between the exciting treasure hunt and the weighty family issues. This clash, while awkward, is appropriately reflected in Cahill's portrayal of Claudia. Overall, Cahill captures her transformation from a giddy, hopeful preteen to a frustrated young woman who is grappling with her growing realization that her parents have far more complex lives than she ever imagined. S.T.C. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

July 2, 2018
Levine (The Lions of Little Rock) crafts a powerful puzzle of a novel about a missing father and his daughter’s search for the truth. The memorable narrator, 12-year-old Claudia, pieces together this “scrapbook” of a story through an inventive collection of notes to the reader, texts, emails, video transcripts, phone logs, Google directions, receipts, and other items. The fragments and ephemera serve to document and help Claudia to come to grips with the sudden, unexplained disappearance of her father. When Claudia’s mother must attend a work conference in Switzerland, Claudia has to stay with her introverted grandfather, Papa, who is still grieving the recent death of her big-hearted grandmother. As Papa and Claudia forge a closer relationship, she also meets a budding filmmaker, who helps her decipher the intricate clues that her father (a lover of brainteasers) left behind. Through the story’s patchwork format, Levine reveals characters’ inner complexities while maintaining tension and uncertainty leading up to the story’s moving revelation. This taut mystery is also a portrait of a family coming to terms with truth and identity. Ages 10–up. Agent: Kathy Green, Kathryn Green Literary Agency.