1. Title: Montmorency on the Rocks, by Eleanor Updale, 0-439-60676-4, Orchard Books, New York, 362pp.

2. Genre: Young adult mystery, grades 7-9

3. Characters: Montmorency, Dr. Farcett, Fox-Selwyn, Vi, Father Michael, and Maggie Goudie

4. Plot: This book is the second in a series about the unlikely hero Montmorency. In the beginning, the reader follows Montmorency on one of his frequent visits to the underground sewers at night, where he does drugs and gets away with stealing. Montmorency has been a spy for England for five years with Fox-Selwyn, who knows little of his past, but has been able to determine that he was once a thief and is now doing drugs. When Montmorency fails to make it for a meeting with Fox-Selwyn, a whirlwind adventure begins. Fox-Selwyn is determined to have the help of his old friend Dr. Farcett, in curing Montmorency of his bad habits. The problem is that Dr. Farcett no longer wishes to practice medicine because of a terrible mistake he made, and, though they don’t know it at the time, Farcett treated Montmorency five years before when he was in jail and put him through horrible pain and embarrassment in order to gain acclaim in the medical field. Fox-Selwyn must get Montmorency to trust Farcett again, and to convince Dr. Farcett to treat Montmorency and help him with his addiction. Amidst all of this, there are bombs going off in train stations in London, and Fox-Selwyn and Montmorency are needed to solve the mystery. There is also another mystery that takes place on a far away island, where every baby born for the past seven years has not survived past the age of three months. Dr. Farcett, Montmorency, and Fox-Selwyn must work together and also with the help of others to solve the two mysteries before even more people die. Everything, including places and people, are described with a satisfying detail that gives the reader an ongoing picture of what is happening in their mind while they are reading the story.

5. Touchy Areas: Significant drug use, drug withdrawal, and drug relapse

6. Related Titles: Nancy Drew novels: this might sound odd, but I am making this comparison because the Nancy Drew novels are also mysteries, and also frequently include the help of other people, usually new friends, to solve the mystery.

Movies:
Related Websites: http://scholastic.com/titles/features/fiction/montonrocks_rrr.asp- This is a Scholastic website that gives excerpts from the book for kids to read and even includes a rating of the book given by kids who have read it. There are also games, downloads, and contests related to the book that can be found via links off of this main website.

7. Evaluation: I enjoyed this book a great deal, and I have not yet read its prequel. The book easily stood on its own and I think that young adults would really like trying to solve the mysteries of the dying babies and the bombs in London before the author reveals the answer. The book reads very quickly, and the characters are well-developed, making the reader feel like they know the people in the book as their own friends. I give this book a 7 out of 10.    

8. Reviewed by: Kelly Altepeter, University of Toledo