The Family Hitchcock

July 25, 2011
Based on a planned film that Levin and Flackett, the husband-and-wife screenwriting team behind Nim's Island and Journey to the Center of the Earth, sold to production company New Regency in 2008, this caper, written by Elish (13), follows the Hitchcock family's tumultuous adventures after they swap houses with a Parisian family, the Vadims. The vacation gets off to a rocky start with seventh grader Maddy bitter about missing her crush's big party, certain that her parents are getting divorced, and butting heads with her mother ("still beautiful at age forty") and her fact-spouting, "boy genius" younger brother, Benji. After the Hitchcocks arrive in France, suspicious characters soon appear, threats loom, and the plot thickens when Maddy reads about a stolen object in Veronique Vadim's diary. The narrative focuses mainly on Maddy and Benji, but also gives insight into their parents' thoughts and motivations as the Hitchcocks use their individual strengths to get back to Chicago alive. Though fairly ordinary, it's an entertaining and high-energy story of mistaken identities and international intrigue. The ample suspense and feisty family dynamics ought to keep readers
invested. Ages 9âup.

November 1, 2011

Gr 4-6-This first novel relates the Hitchcocks' entertaining, albeit unlikely, vacation. When Mr. Hitchcock arranges a house swap, the family reluctantly goes to Paris while the suave Vadims come to the States. It quickly becomes apparent that the Hitchcocks have found themselves right in the middle of an international incident involving theft, secret formulas to end world hunger, kidnapping, and murder. Maddy, 13, cannot get along with her mother or younger brother, who is a genius, but the family must work through their personal issues in order to survive the summer; death is always lurking around the corner. The plot-driven story is preposterous fun with genuine touches of emotion about family dynamics. Fans of Polly Horvath's Everything on a Waffle (Farrar, 2001) should enjoy this comical romp.-B. Allison Gray, Goleta Public Library, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2011
Grades 4-6 What could possibly go wrong with using frequent-flyer miles and house swapping to take a Parisian vacation during a recession? Beaucoup, as it turns out for one Chicago family when mistaken identity and a mysterious discovery keep them on the run (after 100 pages of setup) from bad guys who want what they have. Keeping the parents in the picture is a relatively rare choice on the part of the story creators, proving that you don't have to be an orphan to have an adventure. Yet although they're definitely caring and intelligent, these grown-ups are not always smart, and they continually make foolish decisions (about whom to trust, where to hide, and how to escape), which propels the plot toward a sequel-setup ending. Collectively, the characters of Mom, Dad, Maddy (13), and Benji (9) are somewhat flat, but the details of France, from place descriptions to the frequent French phrases, add interest to a standard but readable romp.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2012
After swapping houses with a French family during their annual holiday, the Hitchcocks find themselves mixed up in high-stakes international crime. Soon they're escaping through chimneys and jumping across roofs, all while evading the Parisian police. This action-adventure tale suffers from some stock characters, and the humor can be a stretch. However, readers will enjoy the snappy dialogue and fast pacing.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)