Kassy O'Roarke, Cub Reporter by Kelly Oliver
What a shame author Kelly Oliver never grew up. Anyone who has read Oliver’s delightful Kassy O’Roarke, Cub Reporter (Beaver’s Pond Press) knows her adult mind is locked inside the head of a clever 12-year-old girl with all the trimmings.
Angst. Intellect. Imagination. Humor. Vulnerability. It’s all there. Oliver, a college philosophy professor in real life, has wrapped Kassy’s persona around a wonderful story for middle-graders who will easily relate to the characters, situations and emotions — embracing some and cringing at others.
Take, for example, the school’s “Miss Everything,” Kelly Finkelman, popular, a goody-two-shoes, perfect Barbie doll hair, cheerleader and, as it happens, a top investigative reporter for the school paper, The Cub Reporter. She is introduced to us as a policeman comes to thank her for writing a story that helped apprehend a local vandal.
Kassy feels “invisible,” insignificant in the presence of Kelly. But that spurs her on. She vows to write the investigative story of the year for the school newspaper and win the prestigious Thompson Award for Journalism. “If I win, everyone will know I exist,” she says, thinking specifically of her dad, who has moved out and on, and who she pines to draw back.
KASSY ON THE CASE
A case to investigate quickly surfaces. Kassy’s mom is an animal lover, working at the vet clinic and opening a petting zoo in their barn with rescue animals. The cougar cub Apollo has suddenly gone missing.
A cougar cub on the loose is not safe for the community. If Animal Control finds the cub first, it will be taken away and the petting zoo will be forced to close.
The investigation to Apollo’s whereabouts is afoot.
Kassy gives herself a pep talk: “’Focus,’ I tell myself. Spies, detectives and journalists don’t hyperventilate, barf or cry. Instead, they look for clues and use their brains to solve the case. And that’s just what I’m going to do.”
The pleasure of this book is following Kassy along the trail and gaining total access to her thinking, hearing her pry for information, and discovering and evaluating “evidence.” It’s fun and informative as she puts pieces together and discards others.
At one point she tries to connect a strand of dog hair to a pair of eyeglasses. “I doubt a dog would wear eyeglasses,” she says, “but a detective never makes assumptions.”
Young readers will love playing along as Kassy tries to decipher a series of written clues presented as riddles to lead her to the next clue. For example, “I have four identical brothers. While they’re running around town, I’m locked in the dark. But if one of them gets hurt, I come out to save the day. Find me and you find Apollo.”*
CHOCK-FULL OF RELATABLE CHARACTERS
Oliver delves into Kassy’s relationships with other characters, to which many middle-grade readers will relate. The feelings of the protagonist (Oliver’s 12-year-old alter ego) are an open book:
- Kelly, of course, so popular and perfect to be the envy of any typical student.
- Dad, who loves her but often misunderstands her good intentions. And the awkwardness of interacting with dad’s new family.
- Mom, in need of Kassy’s thoughtful comfort when dad departs but playing the heavy when it comes to raising her.
- Younger brother Crispy, annoying but with a good heart.
- Classmate Butler, the one you want to make fun of but perhaps there’s “something else” in the air.
Kelly Oliver has written a magnificent middle-grade story that will captivate readers with an exciting plot, relatable narrator, plenty of laughs, and a sprinkling of lessons. She has nailed the voice of her heroine and hit on so many issues, phobias and difficulties of young adolescence.
Kassy O’Roarke is a great role model: smart, thoughtful, clever, ambitious, motivated, curious and vulnerable. She even understands it’s okay to cry now and then. But above all, Kassy is real. I loved this character and this book — so will you and your kids.
*(Answer: a spare tire.)
Kassy O’Roarke, Cub Reporter is available for purchase.
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