The Secret of Zoom

by Lynn Jonell, 291 pages

The Secret of Zoom is a 2011-2012 Mark Twain Award Nominee, and of the nominated books I've read so far (um...I've read 2), I think this one should win! It reminded me of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unforunate Events or Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Children are called upon to perform heroic and dangerous feats while figuring out a sinister mystery concocted by evil grownups. Man, I hate evil grownups!

Christina comes from a very scientific family. But ever since her scientist mother died under mysterious circumstances (her lab exploded and she was never seen again), Christina has been a virtual prisoner in her family's amazing mansion, kept away from other children and the outside world by her overprotective but well-meaning father. When Christina accidentally comes in contact with an orphan from the outside world, she gets inspired to break free. She discovers a secret passageway that leads out of the mansion. She meets up with her orphan friend, Taft, but soon finds herself embroiled in mystery involving orphan abuse, mining violations, a mysterious substance called zoom, and a corrupt relative she had never met. There's also an airplane controlled by singing and the power of thought. Amazing!

For me, the coolest part of this book was that so much of the plot hinges on characters' abilities to sing on pitch (I don't want to spoil anything, but it has to do with how zoom works). I kept having to get up and try notes and chords on the piano to understand how things worked. Of course, the book makes sense and would be a great read even if you don't have a piano handy, but for me, it was fun to play and sing the notes along with Christina. It turns out the chord needed to start the airplane is very beautiful and kind of mournful sounding. Cool!