Reviewed by Susan Hancy
There’s a ghoul in the school and it has cursed the
basketball team. The team were once champions but now can’t win a match. The
team captain has enlisted the Breakfast Club Investigators (BCI), a group of
four junior high kids from different backgrounds who share a passion for
sleuthing, to solve the mystery so that the team can start winning again. The
BCI have had modest success in solving one mystery some months ago but have not
solved a case since. The newest kid to join the BCI, Marcus, is worried that if
they can’t solve this one then they’ll lose credibility with their fellow
students, will need to disband, and will go their separate ways. Marcus is
dreading that. He’s enjoying his newfound friendships with the other BCI
members – Asim, Lise, and Stacey – and doesn’t want things to change. However,
in their eagerness to find out why the basketball team is cursed, the BCI
accidently wreak havoc and the school principal forbids them from continuing to
investigate.
This is an easy-to-read chapter book with a
predictable storyline. The plot is simple: the BCI uncover a couple of clues,
Stacey – who is obsessed with the supernatural – jumps to unrealistic
conclusions, the other BCI members follow along and they’re no closer to a
solution. Of course, they disobey the school principal and continue to
investigate, eventually working up the nerve to trap the ghoul and unmask the
perpetrator. Along the way, Marcus learns that regardless of the result, the
BCI members have other things in common with each other binding their
friendship, such as a fondness for reading.
This book is co-written with a famous English
international soccer player, Marcus Rashford, who is an advocate for child
literacy and the importance of breakfast to fuel the day. These topics feature
in the story. Although targeted at readers aged 8 to 11, the simplicity of this
story may better appeal to the 7 to 10 age range.
