Zipped

Reader Response to Zipped by Laura and Tom McNeal

Inside cover reads:

"When 15 year old Mick Nichols opens the wrong email, he learns a terrible secret . His beautiful, affectionate stepmother is having an affair with a man named Alexander Selkirk. Should Mick tell his father, confront his stepmother, or keep it all to himself? And who, exactly, is Alexander Selkirk?

Mick becomes obsessed with the infidelity, in spite of some serious distractions. Distractions like Lisa Doyle, the religious field-hockey player with the coppery red hair, like the surprising (but appreciated) affections of Myra Vidal, a famously gorgeous college freshman with a secret of her own. Like the strange robberies at the Village Greens, where he works with Lisay Doyle. Day after day, Mick grapples with the mystry of Alexander Selkirk. And at the moment he discovers Selkirk's true identity, he realizes all his problems are all zipped up together- and that he may have to go to drastic lengths to untangle them."

Rxn:

Interesting, but it kind of drags on. appropriate for -11 grade. Plot is well developed, as is Mick's character. The thing that caught my attention the most was the cover. I'm glad it played into the story somehow. There are 3 different parts to the book, and each part begins with a snippet of "sing a song of sixpence." There are 4 characters around which the plot revolves. But Mick is the protagonist.

Teens can relate to at least one thing in this book. It has everything. There are divorced and remarried parents, a mother who lives far away and is basically non-existent, a mysterious/cheating steopmother who seems nice, the geeky-freaky best friend who lives in his own little universe, the bombshelle closeted lesbian who has a crush on her friend, a slimball teacher who hits on his students, a sleazy, sexist, racist supervisor at work, a boy crazy sophomore girl, a few mormon elders, a redhead, a dog named "foolish," and a little porcelain baby Lucifer. Who could ask for more?

It may seem like an impressive lineup, but it needs more of something. More... enthusiasm, breath of life, SOMETHING. Things are well written, but if this story was pushed a little more, it would be the type of book I would have read in 1 day. Instead, it took me 5. No Word Nerd Seal of Approval for this one. It's kind of light-hearted and made me crack a grin every so often, though.

I think the thing that struck me the most was this:

"Don't ever tell your mom you're with me when you're not! I just went to your apartment, and your mom asked me why I wasn't with you at the library" (201). I used to do this to one of my friends. I would tell my mom that I was at A's house when I was really at my boyfriend's house. Both were seriously pissed at me when I finally got caught.

The McNeals use the term "visigoth" on page 201 as well. "He was a predator, a regular Visigoth"

Main Entry: Vis·i·goth Pronunciation: 'vi-z&-"gäth

Function: noun

Etymology: Late Latin Visigothi, plural: a member of the western division of the Goths - Vis·i·goth·ic /"vi-z&-'gä-thik/ adjective

interesting. i'd heard that word before, but never in a negative way.

A great instance of the sporadically witty writing can be found on pp. 202:

"Mrs. Stallings was all business. She'd noted that Mr. Cruso had been called away on urgent business, written an assignment on the board, and explained that students 'should hold any questions, concerns, or feeble ideas about leaving the classroom until Mr. Cruso's return.' When Dale Deckert in his most polite voice asked Mrs. Stallings if she 'was a distant relation to Joseph Stalin,' she'd promptly written him up for Saturday school, and the classroom had thereafter fallen silent."

heh