Thankfully, Mustaches for Maddie won me over...but not at first. The beginning just seemed like the author were trying too hard. The humor was forced, and I could feel the writing process while I was reading the book. Then, out of nowhere, things leveled out, and the story started to grow on me. Parts of the book were actually pretty funny, but the real part of the story starts to weigh on the reader after a while. When Maddie tells about her surgery to remove the tumor, the explanations feel genuine. I suppose that comes out of the real-life experiences of the real-life Maddie, the authors' daughter.
The agony of watching your child deal with the fear and anxiety of an approaching brain surgery comes to the forefront, and the reader feels the pain right alongside the parents and the child.
From the authors' website: Twelve-year-old Maddie has a quirky sense of humor and loves making her classmates laugh by slapping on fake mustaches every chance she gets. Being funny gets her noticed by class queen Cassie, and things are looking up when Maddie is cast as Juliet in the school play. Maybe Juliet could wear a mustache? |