Steve McManus Releases CALENDULA COOL

The 1990-1991 school year is coming to an end. Every fifth grader at Mulligan Elementary is focused on what all children are at this time of year: their upcoming math final, plans for the summer, rumors about a ghost girl in the forest. With no body to find and the clues including a porcelain figurine, a drama script, and an old rope trailing over the edge of a seaside cliff, what started as a ghost story quickly turns into a missing person's case. Sounds like a mission for the secret Mysterious Adventures Society.

Yet some mysteries are too big and too dark for a group of middle schoolers to handle on their own. With a menacing stranger aided by a group of bullies-the MAS's sworn enemies-also on the trail of this "ghost girl", it looks like the MAS may have bitten off more than they can chew. Will the MAS solve the mystery and save the "ghost girl"? Or is this adventure about to go tuna?

Calendula Cool: MAS Adventure #44 by Steve McManus takes readers on a darker, exciting adventure through the eyes of an ordinary child. While this book is certainly not the first one to thrust children on such age-inappropriate adventures, McManus's novel handles the perspective so realistically that the approach is refreshing. Even with their very adult adventures, the children characters still have school, hobbies, and everyday worries like consequences from their parents and get scared when adult greed and violence make things get too intense. Their unique ways of thinking and seeing the world render gems like the phrase "going tuna", which the MAS uses to refer to when an adventure has become too adult for them. McManus has truly taken the time to think through this adventure from a child's perspective rather than using an adult's perspective on child-aged characters, and that has made all the difference with this novel's level of engagement and authenticity.

The well-developed characters that populate Calendula help bring the child's perspective to life and make the book even more compelling. Right from the beginning, McManus does not hesitate to make each character he introduces their own unique person. Even how they ride their bikes varies from character to character. From the "uncool" but kind and brave members of MAS to the "cool" but bullying Stuart and his gang of fifth-grade failures, there is a variety of complex characters who are never quite what they seem. In the end, their unique personalities are still intact, but they have not gone through the journey entirely unscarred. Their loyalties are tested, their resolve strained, and their priorities reevaluated, leaving them the same yet different.

Unfortunately, the development of these characters does have a negative side effect. Sometimes, McManus utilizes too much exposition or focuses too much description on things that do not matter. These issues mostly occur in the beginning, often in an attempt to develop more distinct characters. These asides become a bit distracting. However, they are also usually amusing with information that makes the younger characters seem even more individual and childlike. So, while they do sometimes distract from the main plot and momentarily slow the narrative pace, they do not detract too much from the overall story. Furthermore, despite these moments of excessive exposition and description, the general pacing of the novel is well done, brisk enough to keep a younger reader's attention without confusing anybody.

The most noteworthy aspect of this book is its setting, namely the time period in which it is set. Rather than a modern Middle Grade/Young Adult Mystery, Calendula Cool takes place in the early 90s, in the days before smartphones and computers took over middle schoolers' lives. This setting allows for the focus, both of the characters and the readers, to be completely on the adventure and the mystery and people behind it. This setting makes it more realistic for the characters to bike, spend time outside, and look for adventure in their local community, rather than spend much of their time wrapped up in technology. With more adventure-focused characters, the book itself is more adventurous as well as more nostalgic, reminding readers, young and old, of a time before our senses were ensnared by social media, television, and video games.

While written for middle graders and young adults, Calendula Cool: MAS Adventure #44 by Steve McManus is a book for anyone fifth grade-the grade of the main characters-and above. Its 215 pages fly by as the characters and plot keep the reader captivated. If you are looking for a completely innocent children's read or a dark adult's novel, then this story is not for you. If you want a book with mystery, adventure, tension, and girls who are just as tough as the boys, then you must pick up a copy of Calendula Cool.

Source: http://usbookviews.com/5-stars-calendula-cool-mas-adventure-44/

Calendula Cool

MAS Adventure #44

By Steve McManus

Published: February 2020

ISBN: 978-0996448574

ASIN: B084GGGN9Q

Pages: 281

Genre: YA Mystery, MG Mystery

About the Author

Steve McManus grew up in Calgary. After moving to Los Angeles, he became the drummer for Darling Violetta, who performed the theme song to the hit TV series Angel. RED FLAG, the first book in his City of Angels/Dead on Arrival (CODA) series, was published in 2015. His second book, SEVEN DEVILS, came out in 2018. CALENDULA COOL is his first book for young adults in the new Mysterious Adventures Society series.

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