Elias, Shohei, and Honoria are rich, brainy seventh-grade kids attending the prestigious Peshtigo School of Chicago, where they believe in �All Math, All the Time.� Although Elias and Honoria have been friends since kindergarten, he confides to Shohei that his feelings for Honoria have grown beyond friendship. Honoria, unaware of Elias� feelings for her, tells him that she has a crush on Shohei.
The three friends are all preparing for the annual school science fair. Honoria�s project involves determining whether or not her pet piranhas can be conditioned to prefer a vegetarian diet over a carnivorous one. Elias and Shohei team up to obtain �experimental confirmation� of findings Elias� brother obtained from a science fair project conducted ten years earlier. When Shohei�s test plants are accidentally destroyed, he fakes his findings, ultimately landing Elias in the school�s court system. He ends up faced with two unsatisfactory choices: either be suspended for two weeks or, like Galileo, recant his scientific findings.
All this time, Shohei is trying to help Elias win the heart of Honoria, and his efforts end up embarrassing and alienating all three. They need one another, however, to get through the muddle and mixed-up feelings, and each finds the inner resources to get their friendship back on track while helping Elias resolve his �legal� issues with the school.
Smith successfully places the reader in the setting through his descriptions of the Chicago scene. The school is in downtown Chicago, the students can ride the El to and from school, and they live in fancy downtown digs: �We live in a twenty-ninth-floor rooftop condo on Lake Shore Drive in Lincoln Park, with a clear view of the zoo and the lake.� (p. 26) The aura of contemporary wealth is enhanced by the computers, stereo systems, speaker phones, CD players, and e-mail which figure significantly in the plot.
The narration is rotated among the three main characters, who reveal themselves through their own thoughts. Their reflections also flesh out the other protagonists more objectively, as well as their relationship to each other. The reader realizes that Honoria and Elias are serious students (�Honoria and I are considered two of the Smart Ones. It�s expected.� � p. 5), while Shohei has a more relaxed attitude, and succeeds largely through his charm (�Chill . . . It�s just a science fair.� � p. 61).
Mr. Eden, on the other hand, is a flat caricature of an �out-to-get-you� teacher. He exhibits no redeeming qualities, and is consistently snide and rude to the students, addressing them in short, clipped sentences. �Mr. Brandenburg . . What. Are. You. Doing?� (p. 39) He even suggests that Elias would do better to have a monkey take his tests. � . . . hie thee to the Lincoln Park Zoo for a monkey to take the test for you.� (p. 68)
Although the author deals with universal themes of teen love, friendship, and school angst, it is questionable whether readers will be able to identify with the three young protagonists. Handled differently, the commonality they share with teens in more modest circumstances could be the focus of the book. But the pretentiousness of the writing is over the top in too many instances. Rather than listening to �Bach� or the �Brandenburg Concertos,� the children listen to �Bach�s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B flat major, BWV 1051.� (p. 50) Plants and animals are consistently referred to by their full scientific names, i.e. Melanoplus devastator (p. 168); Pygocentrus nattereri (p. 53); and Gryllus texensis (p. 46). Few pre-teen readers will be able to relate to children who entertain themselves by going to the opera, Riverdance, or showings of Titus Andronicus; are punished by translating opera scores from Italian to English; or give each other gifts like rats and data from science experiments.
The author is clearly brilliant himself, and certainly has the intelligence and talent to write a good story. But the affected tone of this book, the self-conscious pseudo-intellectualism of the children, and the pompous characterizations render it unfit for the average child to appreciate. Hopefully, Mr. Smith�s future ventures into literature for youngsters will be more appropriate for his target audience and find a more appreciative readership.