Another one of those books kids just eat up, The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferrailo is a hilarious and exciting middle school tale.
I first decided to read it when I saw Gordon Korman’s praising words on the back cover. You can’t go wrong when the G-Man’s involved, can you?
Summary
The book is narrated in the first person by a kid named Matt. Matt is the private detective of Franklin Middle School, working through the night to crack cases and let people vent to him.
From the very beginning of the book we learn that “The Frank” is not a normal middle school. In fact, it is more like the mafia than junior high.
Matt gives us the scoop of the history of the school. In the past, there was a lot of “black market” crime going on. People getting shaken up, black market tests, “black market” copies of tests, and stuff like that. And then came Vinnie.
Vinnie used to be just a little guy in the works of Franklin Middle School, a target of bullies. Vinnie was smart, though, and he had a plan. He decided to start organizing all the illegal operations going on and start profiting from them himself.
It was a long road, but Vinnie did it. This included putting his former bully on “the outs” (shooting them with a squirt gun in the pants to create a rather unfortunate connotation, and dressing up Joey (“The Hyena”) in a diaper. When Vinny and his posse walked away from the scene, everyone knew it was now his school.
We start off with Nikki “Fingers,” the most feared girl in the school, getting put in the outs. Nikki used to be the top water gun squirter for Vinnie’s operation. Getting put on the outs basically means your life is over in middle school. Many people have to move out of town because no one even talks to you anymore.
Nikki decides to retire from Vinnie, however, and instead becomes a normal girl. Until one day, when she gets hit. The question is…who did it? The person darted out of there fast enough that nobody saw it.
That’s where Matt comes in. He was on the scene of the crime, doing a favor for Vinnie by returning a pendant to Nikki. As a detective, it’s his job to find out who soaked Nikki…and why. Will he find the crook in time? Or will he fail, and also be cast into the outs?
Review
This book is a ton of fun! A world where the kids run the school and there is a secret mafia is just awesome. I really enjoyed reading about it.
The characters are great, too. Vinnie is a former victim turned into king of the school who deals not only in ruthlessness but also in respect. Matt was offered by Vinnie to be his right-hand man and run the operation with him, but declined. He has always prided himself on not working for Vinnie.
And the truth about who really got Nikki truly is a story to behold. There are so many plot twists and changes that I can remember a couple of the decoys, but not the real gunner. Oh, and it’s funny too. This is a book any fun-loving middle school (or elementary school, for that matter) kid will enjoy.
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