Flanagan Underage Detective
by Andreu Martin / Jaume Ribera
Published October 5, 2011
This book was provided to us by the author, in exchange for an honest review.
His name is Juan Anguera. He's a fourteen year old student, living in the turbulent environment of suburban Barcelona. But everybody calls him Flanagan, and he's an amateur detective. Big cases? Well, not really. He can find your lost pet, or maybe find out who's sending you those anonymous love poems. Until one of his simple cases turns out to be much more serious and dangerous. Flanagan finds himself doing the work of a real detective, all the while leaving behind his own childhood. And to make everything all the more complicated, he has to deal with his first experiences of heartache. His only weapons in the face of danger are his iron-clad sense of humor, his fast legs, and his clever mind.Published to great acclaim in Spain, and winner of the country's most important Award, the “Premio Nacional de Literatura Juvenil”, this is the book that created a new mystery genre: the teen noir.
***
This book was really well written and the translator did a great job. This being said there were still a few instances that I was a bit confused and I felt that things got a little lost in translation (please forgive the movie reference). The book flowed really well and was fast paced. It was entertaining to read about some of Flanagan's detective work at the start of the story, and what kids in middle school are willing to pay to know. I can tell that the authors are very talented and the reason that I'm not giving this a higher rating is based on some of the content in this book. It is in the teen genre and while I know I am conservative I'm not certain that I'd allow my child to read this book.
(Spoiler: the content included alcohol, drugs and mention of pedophiles)
2.5/5 stars
Hi
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you very much for reviewing our book.
Second, sorry for my English, we are not native English speakers; that's why wee need a professional translator for our books.
And third... to say we are taken abback... by the fact that your comment seems to support something that we believed to be a cliché... that there are deep cultural differences between european and american people.
The Flanagan series has been published in almost all european languages, we have got many reviews, and not a single one considered these books not apt for teen (young adult) readers. Actually, this very book (Flanagan, Underage detective) has won awards in different countries, including the most important spanish award for young adult books. And we called very often to go to schools to chat about the books with the students; that includes lots of catholic schools (we have many here) and even nun's schools.
We think there is a difference between children and young adults. We also think that young adults deserve to be told about the bad things of real life from a sensible and adequated perspective... before they are told in the streets or in movies or tv from a non-sensible and inadequated perspective. We don't think teens should live in a shell, and we know that living in a shell is not possible in our multimedia world. None of the things you mention in your spoiler is portraited in a positive way; the ones that do these things are the antagonists of Flanagan, and their actions are judged harshly from Flanagan's point of view.
We know you have posted your honest opinion... that is our's.
Thanks again.
Jaume Ribera