Doing Time Online

March 1, 2002
Gr 4-6-Mitchell, 12, is in big trouble. He is "sentenced" to do time twice every week at the police station because he and a friend played a prank that could easily have had serious consequences for an elderly neighbor. At the station, Mitch must be an e-mail pen pal to a nursing-home resident. Although resentful at first, he finds that his new friend gives him courage to finally admit that he is partially responsible for his neighbor's accident. Mitch's attempt to reclaim personal integrity includes just enough adventure to prevent didacticism. Siebold uses a simple diary format that includes Mitch's electronic conversations with his elderly friend to create an effective, contemporary novel dealing with everyday pressures that most students face. This is a book that will definitely appeal to a wide variety of readers, especially those who enjoy Donald J. Sobol's "Encyclopedia Brown" series or Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee (Little, Brown, 1990). E-mail gives a current twist to the idea of making the punishment fit the crime; the current plot combined with skillful writing will attract even the most recalcitrant readers.-Susan Cooley, Tower Hill School, Wilmington, DE

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2002
Gr. 3-5. When Mitch plays a trick on an elderly neighbor, the joke backfires and she gets hurt. As punishment, he has to take part in a police program for juvenile offenders during which he chats online twice a week with a nursing home resident across the state. Of course, he and his elderly partner, Wootie, become friends and end up helping each other, but Siebold pushes beyond formula bibliotherapy here--not only because the computer chat is fun and easy to read but also because Mitch and Wootie are realistic characters, sharp and funny, assertive and needy. Mitch eventually stops blaming the bully who drew him into the mean behavior and apologizes to his neighbor. Things get a bit too upbeat and purposive when Mitch stands up to the bully and wins. But what's best here has nothing to do with bullies or computer chat: it's the background story, told by Mitch, of his home life with his widower dad, a beautifully drawn portrait of a nurturing single parent.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2002
After precipitating an unfortunate accident, Mitch is sentenced to one month of community service, chatting twice weekly online with a woman in a local nursing home. Their conversations introduce two likable individuals; the woman helps Mitch apologize for his actions, and he, in turn, helps her accept her present circumstances. The e-mail format and rosy resolution create a nondemanding and pleasant read.

(Copyright 2002 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)