Ben knows only three things about his dad: 1) he has green eyes, 2) he has a number, and 3) at one point in his life, he made a deposit at a bank. Ben’s mom is usually good about answering his questions. But not this one. So, when Ben is assigned a family tree project at school, he confronts his mom (for the zillionth time), and instead of telling Ben the truth, she buys him a dog (Blue). With the dreaded day of oral reports looming, Ben rallies Blue and his best friend Cooper to uncover his dad’s whereabouts and complete his family tree. But what Ben discovers is stranger than anything he could have ever imagined. And to make matters worse, Blue’s former owner enters the story and unusual things start to happen.
Ben knows only three things about his dad: 1) he has green eyes, 2) he has a number, and 3) at one point in his life, he made a deposit at a bank. Ben’s mom is usually good about answering his questions. But not this one. So, when Ben is assigned a family tree project at school, he confronts his mom (for the zillionth time), and instead of telling Ben the truth, she buys him a dog (Blue). With the dreaded day of oral reports looming, Ben rallies Blue and his best friend Cooper to uncover his dad’s whereabouts and complete his family tree. But what Ben discovers is stranger than anything he could have ever imagined. And to make matters worse, Blue’s former owner enters the story and unusual things start to happen.
CHAPTER 1
“Good morning!” said our teacher Jassi.
In Hindi, Jassi means “a person who sits.”
This is funny because Jassi never sits. She floats around the room like a butterfly.
Her last name takes too long to say. So she lets us call her by her first name.
Jassi.
“Tomorrow we will start our end of the year project,” she said. “I think you’ll have lots of fun with it.”
As soon as she said “project” the class groaned.
But I thought Jassi’s projects were mostly pretty cool. So I listened.
I tried not to watch Jerry bounce up and down in his chair. And I ignored Ian and Elliott’s burping contest.
“The project is called My Family,” Jassi said.“We’ll learn about each other’s families. What makes them different. What makes them the same…”
Jerry fell off his chair. As usual. Then he sat back up.
Jassi continued as if she hadn’t noticed.
She’s great at not making anyone feel silly.
“I want you to gather as much information about your family as you can,” she said. “Keep in mind… Families can be the people you were born to. The people you live with. Or the people who feel like family in your heart. At the end, you’ll present your family in a report.”
“That will be easy,” said Penny. She was twirling her braids like jump ropes.
Penny came from a big family. “At Thanksgiving,” she said. “My family rents extra tables. We take up two whole rooms!”
I slunk down in my seat.
This time Jassi’s project would not be fun. Or easy.
I stole a look at my best friend Cooper. I could tell she didn’t think so either.
Cooper is the tallest girl in our class. Today she sprayed her spiky hair metallic gold. (Her natural color is blonde.) Cooper likes to change her hair color every few days.
Her full name is Calliope Claire Cooper. But she just likes to be called Cooper.
Me? I’m Benjamin Zither. But I go by Ben. I’m almost 10. The shortest boy in the class.
And my hair’s regular brown.
Jassi kept talking and moving around the room.
“I don’t want just a list of your relatives,” she said. “Find out interesting things about them. You can draw pictures too.” She held up a cartoon family making a human pyramid.
Cooper and I looked at each other. And rolled our eyes.
She was probably thinking about her father. He moved out last year when her parents got divorced. Now Cooper sees him every other weekend. And has dinner with him once a week. But that isn’t enough for her. She misses him.
At least she knows who her dad is…
The kids in my class started shouting things about their moms and uncles and grandparents. But I only paid attention to the dad things.
“My dad’s an architect. My dad’s a firefighter. My dad’s a nurse…”
“Yes those are interesting examples,” said Jassi. “But there are smaller things that are important too. For example, my mother makes the best sweet carrot pudding. Sprinkled with almonds and rose petals.”
Fine. I’ll say my mom bakes the best chocolate cake. With marshmallow frosting.
I’ll say she’s a doctor. And likes to play Scrabble…
But what could I write about my dad?
I didn’t know anything about him.
Not even his name…
Questions. Curiosity. Confusion. Secrets. Telling the truth, even when it hurts. A dastardly villain. The best detective dog in the world. You’ll find all this and more in Keith Garton’s new novel for middle grade readers, Searching for Lucky #3002: A Ben and Blue Mystery.
A school project turns into a nightmare when Benjamin “Ben” Zither, “almost ten,” has to come up with some answers for his class’s Family Project. His best friend Caliope (isn’t that a great name?) “Claire” Cooper, has divorced parents. Ben has a mom. She’s a psychiatrist, “the kind of doctor for sad and worried people.” But Ben doesn’t know who his dad is. Not even his name. When asked, Mom says she found Ben’s dad “in a bank.” That only leads to more confusion as Ben tries to sort out who he is and who his dad is. The only thing Ben really knows is that his dad had green eyes.
Deflecting some tricky questions about Dad, Mom suggests getting a dog. So Mom and Ben head to the Furry Friends Animal Shelter. Ben meets a “droopy-faced dog.” Turns out Blue the Basset Hound needs a family, too! Meanwhile, Ben is still sweating about his Family Project. He wonders to Blue if he’ll even recognize his dad if he ever sees him. Not to fret. Ben and Cooper team up with Blue and determine to search for clues about Ben’s dad.
During Operation Snoop, Blue finds… Oh, wait. You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out about that. Meanwhile, questions linger. Can Ben, Blue and Cooper crack the case of Lucky #3002 before his class project is due? How? Why does the usually gregarious, friendly Blue go shy and quiet whenever an elderly lady named Pearl shows up? And why is Pearl so interested in Blue?
Now, it would’ve been easy to make this book about IVF and just include the science. But Garton doesn’t do that. Instead, he creates and sustains a wide variety of emotions including fear, anxiety, confusion, loyalty, and hope. There's also suspense, intrigue and a Sherlockian vibe rippling through the pages, plus a generous dose of gentle humor. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that our Intrepid Trio has more than one mystery to solve. So there’s plenty to keep middle grade readers engaged, entertained, and turning pages.
Briskly paced with pitch-perfect timing, Searching for #3002 is a quick and clever read. The writing is solid. Characters are memorable. The action snaps, crackles, and pops like a bowlful of Rice Krispies. I especially appreciated the sensitive manner in which a sensitive subject is approached. Ditto how Blue is treated as a member of the family. After all, what’s not to love about the best detective dog in the world?