Eddie Whatever

Gr 4--7--Eddie needs a service project for his upcoming bar mitzvah, and his mom isn't taking no for an answer when she signs him up to do twice-weekly visits to the seniors (whom he calls "oldsters") at the Silver Brook residential facility. He never expected to actually develop friendships with the residents, run into gangsters, hear stories of the Holocaust, or go searching for ghosts. But then Tessa, the girl he wishes was his girlfriend, agrees to complete her service project at Silver Brook; now he's in it for the long haul. At least, until he's accused of making off with the residents' valuables and is banned from the premises. What can he do to clear his name and get his senior friends to trust him again? Ruby has come up with a winning and unexpected combination of mystery, intrigue, and social commentary, interlaced with wisecracks and school woes. Eddie's middle school voice is spot-on, his love of baseball will appeal to sports fans, and his bar mitzvah preparation will enlighten younger readers who are unfamiliar with the ceremony. VERDICT Although there's a lot crammed into this fun and funny story, the frenetic pace of Eddie's life will appeal to readers, and his good heart and eventual friendship with the seniors at Silver Brook are heartwarming. Recommended for libraries serving tweens and early teens.--Elizabeth Friend, Wester M.S., TX

An Oklahoma tween finds unexpected community. Eddie is overscheduled. Between middle school, Hebrew school, baseball, robotics, and bar mitzvah classes, he's got a full plate--and now he also has to complete a mitzvah project as part of his bar mitzvah. So, when his mom signs him up to volunteer at a small, local assisted living facility, Eddie feels just as cantankerous as the residents he meets at Silver Brook Pavilion. Thrown into the community with no structure and minimal guidance, he's bored--until small valuables belonging to the residents begin to go missing. Some residents think it's a ghost, while management is convinced that Eddie is the prime suspect. Along with a friend from his b'nai mitzvah prep class and the help of his robotics club, Eddie determinedly solves the mystery, getting to better know and even befriend the residents along the way. A subplot in which Eddie learns about one resident's traumatic experience in the Holocaust is handled with care, as are family tensions surrounding Eddie's father's unemployment. A realistic, affectionate relationship with his younger sister is a delightful bonus. Short chapters and snappy first-person narration give this wide appeal. Characters default to White, although some background characters are implied to be people of color, and many characters are Jewish. An enjoyable intergenerational story. (Fiction. 9-13) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.