Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty is one of those books that has recently shown up on the murmurings of Newbery possibilities for this year, so of course I was curious. The title evoked a summer twilight atmosphere and I thought it the perfect book for the 4th of July weekend. In the end, this book was nothing like my expectations which were raised by the praise for this title.
This is the story of 12-ish year old girl named Lily who has been mute (yes another book about a mute child... how do I find these things??) for two years since the death of her older brother. The entire town, her father included (there is no mother in the picture) assumes that she has brain damage from the same event that killed her brother, but Lily is hiding another secret about that day. When a strange girl (Tinny- a name I couldn't really get past), also mother-less and also garnering the sympathy of the small town that was once only for Lily, Lily's world changes dramatically. Like the Nancy Drew books she so loves, Lily is swept up in the mystery of this strange girl, a mystery that ends in the climax of the story.
I was more affected by the story of the brother's death than the mystery that shrouded the Tinny. I was also a little disappointed by the way the story ended so easily. This was a short novel- 167 pages that I read in less than an hour. In my mind, this is not a Newbery winner, but it was a fine book for summer reading.
I would recommend this book for reluctant readers in 4th or 5th grade because of the small size of the book and because most kids like a mystery.
