There have been plenty of riffs on pulp fiction and the noir novel for kids, some better than others. These will adopt that signature hard-boiled voice and style, and adapt the actual case for a younger audience. This can work out really well, or be sort of … done. (I do particularly like Jack Lime and The Trouble With Chickens, myself, if you’re looking for fun examples of this sort of thing.)
This book is not one of those. It is, in fact, both more and less sophisticated at once.
The Fourth Stall
by Chris Rylander
Walden Pond Press
ISBN: 978 0 06 199497 5
Rylander has pulled off a very interesting twist on how to reimagine an adult crime novel for kids. Often, authors will simply adopt the voice of the genre, which may in fact go over the heads of their intended audience. In this case, however, we have a simpler, less sophisticated narration, and the author has instead taken the essence of the plot, with its twists, turns, ambushes, and backstabbing between two feuding “businesses” and readjusted the whole thing to fit into the world of kids while leaving the bones the same. So.
Our narrator, Mac, is a kid who solves problems for other kids, who come to him and his business partner for help, and pay in money and/or favours. Sound familiar so far? They even have some muscle working for them, and they have a stable of kids they employ to help solve these problems, or call in favours. This all puts him into the role of the godfather, except for the fact that he runs a nice clean business, and is a good kid.
Enter the problem – a legendary bad kid/high school dropout in town, Staples, begins to move his gambling racket into the school, and with it come problems, both for mac, and for the rest of the kids, who start to come to him for help. Mac quickly starts figuring out who works for Staples, and makes plans to interfere, but somehow, one plan after another is headed off at the pass, until it becomes clear that Staples is getting inside info – and then, the hunt for the rat is on. There is, of course, an ambush that defeats an ambush, suspicion within the business, and a bang-up ending with loyalties proven – all following the plotline from The Godfather. It’s really fantastic reading, and I gobbled it in a few days, enjoying the construction, but also enjoying that kids with no frame of reference for the original (and really, they shouldn’t have yet, should they?) would still find this fun and entirely accessible.
Even better? I discovered that The Fourth Stall, Part II is also out, read it in a mere day (unheard of for me, but I barely put it down), and enjoyed it just as much. Now that’s fun, fast, and perfect for even a reluctant reader.