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The Crimes and Punishments of Miss Payne

Book Summary

Reviewed by Matt Berman

Calma is a bright, talented student. Her best friend, Kiffo, is the opposite, except for a talent for theft and driving teachers crazy. After he does this (literally) to their English teacher, the replacement, Miss Payne, seems out to get him, and she's too tough for him to take on directly. So he decides to break into her house and trash it for revenge. But in her house he discovers clues that lead him to conclude that she is an underworld drug dealer, and he and Calma decide to follow her to get proof.

Unlike most literary teen sleuths, they're realistically not very good at it, and soon are facing police accusations of stalking. And when it begins to look like they were completely wrong, Calma wants to quit. But Kiffo won't let go, leading them both into tragedy and a final twist.

Is It Any Good?

4

It's always exciting to see a first-timer with major talent appear on the scene, and author Barry Jonsberg is all that and more. This is a passionate, complex, humorous, and moving story with some satisfying plot twists and a truth that is only gradually revealed. Told in the first person by Calma, it has a witty, sardonic voice and gritty realism.

It also has plenty of rookie mistakes. The narrative goes off in too many directions, and the pointlessly ambiguous ending will frustrate many readers. Jonsberg also seems determined, as many first-time authors are, to throw in every good idea he's ever had: funny horoscope entries, imagined movie dialogue, flashbacks, last-minute revelations, comedy, tragedy, letters, essays, etc. But the core of the story, Calma's and Kiffo's friendship, feels authentic and touching, and it remains in the reader's thoughts after the last page is turned.

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