Synopsis
Jamie Reardon has always heard that bad things come in threes. So after his cat, Mister, dies, his father leaves, and his aunt Sapphy has an accident that causes her memory to develop a skip, Jamie hopes his life will go back to being as normal as cornflakes. But unfortunately there's one more bad thing in store for Jamie—something he'd give anything to be able to forget—and this one leaves him feeling like a stranger to himself. Jamie tries in vain to find the magic trigger that will help Sapphy's memory jump the scratch, but in the end it's Aunt Sapphy who, along with a curious girl named Audrey Krouch, helps Jamie unravel the mysteries of memory and jump the scratch in his own life.
Publishers Weekly
It has been a rough year for 11-year-old Jamie Reardon. In short order, his cat, Mister, died, his father ran off with another woman, and the boy and his mother moved to a trailer park to live with his aunt Sapphy who, because of an accident at the cherry factory where she used to work, has lost her short-term memory and needs them to take care of her. Jamie is also suffering from being the new kid in school and bearing the brunt of a bully's attention. But worst of all is the dark secret that sits deep in Jamie's heart, a secret that he can't share with anyone, and that he would give anything to forget. Spinella brings a lovely sensitive quality to his narration of Weeks's novel, which is reminiscent of the old 1980s television series The Wonder Years, as an older, wiser Jamie looks back at an important, troubling and powerful earlier time in his life. Spinella's insightful performance brings notes of pre-teen innocence and angst to his characterization of Jamie, and is sure to connect with young listeners. Ages 10-up.(May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.