PRE-PUB REVIEW: Tell Me by Joan Bauer

And now for something completely different!  I turned to Joan Bauer, because I can always count on her to be funny and uplifting.  She does not disappoint in this latest novel for middle grades about a girl who sees someone in trouble and has to figure out what to do.  Bauer delivers with the sweetly humorous voice of Anna, a middle school student who is also an actress.  Anna’s parents are working through some difficulties, so she goes to stay with her grandmother, Mim.  While at Mim’s, she gets a volunteer gig at the public library as a dancing petunia, don’t ask, just read it, and sees a girl who may have been taken against her will.  She calls the authorities, some of whom take her seriously, while trying to determine what she saw.  Fortunately, Winnie, the librarian, saw the girl and her captor, too, so they are able to work together.  It doesn’t hurt that Winnie’s grandson works for Homeland Security. Despite some obvious sucking up to librarians—libraries are “where things happen!”—and at least one slight anachronism—Winnie goes to the back room to get out a Vietnamese dictionary, rather than doing a language search online, the story is fun while at the same time exploring the responsibilities we all have to help each other and including a very brief primer on human trafficking, suitable for the middle grades.  I would not go to this as a sure fire winner, but it will be great for Bauer fans and for other middle schoolers who like a mystery with a happy ending.  Proof that an author can tackle sensitive and important subjects without resorting to bad language and graphic violence.  Thanks Joan!

Tell Me is slated to be published on September 16, 2014

June Cleaver’s Rating System:

Language—G; Nudity—G;  Sexual Content—G; GLBT Content—G;  Violence—PG;  Substance Abuse—G; Adult Themes—Human trafficking; social responsibility.  Both are handled with middle school students in mind.