Kid Konnection – Guy Langman: Crime Scene Procrastinator
Guy Langman’s father passed away at the end of Guy’s sophomore year of high school and Guy misses him terribly. He decides to write a book about his father but discovers that he really doesn’t know much about his past. Guy makes a startling discovery that just might change the way he thinks of his dad.
In the meantime, Guy’s best friend, Anoop, talks him into joining the Forensics Club at school – after all, several cute girls will be there. Guy is the first one to admit that he’s lazy, but he finds something he’s good at at Forensics Club. When his team goes up against the team from another school to solve a fake crime, Guy and Anoop discover a real crime and put their crime solving skills to work.
It’s kind of hard to describe Guy Langman: Crime Scene Procrastinator, by Josh Berk, because there’s a lot going on. Guy is still grieving for his father and is trying to learn more about him. There are several mysteries to be solved, squabbles between friends, and girls to think about. That’s a lot for one kid to handle. It’s a lot for one book, too, but it works in this case!
In most ways, Guy was a typical teenage boy. He jumps to conclusions. He’s on the lazy side and enjoys “video games, cartoons, and bubble baths.” Okay, maybe he’s not all that typical. He’s still struggling with the loss of his father. At times I felt for him and at other times, I wanted to choke him.
The mystery in the book isn’t all that complicated and I did solve it before Guy did, but it was fun watching him figure things out, since he figured out some other things along the way.
The story is told from Guy’s point of view and his thoughts did tend to wander where teenage boys thoughts will, so there is quite a bit of crude humor in the book. It may offend some people, but it made me laugh and I think teenage boys will love it!
For more children’s books reviews, go to Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, leave a comment as well as a link on her site.
Despite all that’s going on in this book, it sounds like a fun read. I like the forensics aspect — I would have loved to have had the chance to join a forensics club when I was young.
Very sad when a child loses a parent. I’m glad he gets involved with the Forensics club. Enjoyed the review. Would like to read the book.
Sounds like a good book for teens who love solving mysteries.
I can’t wait to read this one. I’m a huge fan of Josh’s and I love his storytelling abilities!
I’m going to have to investigate this one! Boys love crude and it always gets them coming back to the library for more!
I’ve always thought that I would have loved these forensics clubs if they’d been around when I was growing up.
I was so surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! Guy was a great hero and even though I’m not a teenage boy, I would definitely recommend it to people who have a similar sense of humor to me.