Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore

by Marci Stillerman

Set against the backdrop of a child murder in 1930s-era Chicago, three teenagers lives are about to change dramatically. From different sides of the tracks, Zane and Fred forge a bond through their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1934813117
• ISBN13: 9781934813119
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: West Side Books
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.7" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Very well written in an easy to read style

Originally posted on [...] When the desperation of the Great Depression reaches its darkest, it's not only the adults that suffer its dire consequences. Children of all ages are drawn into the darkness along with their parents, friends and relatives. Fred, Zane, and Maizy are only three of them, but their story rings true across the decades. You'll be touched by their stories, angered at their inability to save themselves, and rejoice as they find their way through one of the most difficult times in American history. While told from alternating perspectives, from the very beginning I felt like Fred was the main character of sorts. He's the new kid on Kenmore and is learning his way around the area and the people. He seems to be the most average of the three narrators and I liked him a lot. He battles the constant tide of wants vs. what is right and he handles things well usually. While he makes his mistakes, I do believe that they're all made for the right reasons. For me, Fred was the most relatable of the narrators and I could identify with his situation at home. Zane is the minister's son and the only kid from the right side of the tracks. Despite being rich, he feels like he doesn't fit in with the kids from his own street so he hangs out on Kenmore where the kids are more honest and real. He starts out as an arrogant, self-absorbed rich kid but, as the story progresses he's forced to change a lot. Of the three, he probably grows the most over the course of the novel. His faith is broken and he's forced to rebuild, not something that comes easily to a sixteen-year-old. I wouldn't have wanted to be in his shoes for anything. Maizy was probably my favorite narrator. Her unrequited love for Zane and her honest, if simple, outlook on life was different from any of the others in the novel. Forced to stay home and care for her brother, Maizy's life revolves around her front porch. She's profoundly affected by the murder that starts the story off and it haunts her thoughts. I appreciated her complete and total devotion to her brother and the honest way she interacted with everyone who passed her way. She still had hopes and dreams, even knowing that most would never come to fruition. But it didn't stop her from hoping for a better life for them all. Despite the rather bleak circumstances that set the stage for this coming of age novel, the trueness of the narrators' voices shine through the darkness. I loved the way that the narrator changed, each revealing just a piece of the mystery surrounding the murder haunting Kenmore, giving you the briefest of glimpses into the answer to it all. Very well written in an easy to read style, Something Terrible Happened on Kenmore is a stark and yet hopeful portrait of a teenager's life in Depression-Era Chicago. Things were by no means easy, but there was still hope on the horizon.

Flamingnet.com Teen Book Reviews-very descriptive

In a small town called Kenmore, everything is pleasant and casual until...there was a murder. A small girl name Marta was murdered by an unknown man, but there was one clue, a hand. Fortunately, the murderer cut off the girl's hand, and in her hand is the hair of the killer. Soon, a boy name Fred Fink moves into Kenmore and finds some new friends. A new friend, Zane, invites him to his clubhouse, which he likes to call Z's. Its an old rusty hideout that the gang comes to often. But in this old nasty warehouse, is hidden a clue to the murder. Read the book to find out the hidden clue within the old warehouse that could solve the murder! I liked this book. It was interesting, and there were always mysteries to come. It is a pretty long book and has some bad words in it but that didn't bother me. It was a really good book and very descriptive, too! NOTE to parents: This book has a lot of curse words and many inappropriate parts. I would reccomend this for more mature readers. Reviewed by a young adult student reviewer Flamingnet Book Reviews Teen books reviewed by teen reviewers

RIVITING AND POIGNANT

I found the book riveting! Author Marci Stillerman definitely has a way with words; words that at times can carry the reader on with a thudding heart. I definitely felt empathy for the three main characters, all different, yet together in their sense of loneliness that unites children in their situation, and bonds them in the terrible secret they must keep. The book is a page-turner and I would highly recommend it for any reader who enjoys good writing, and wants "showing," not "telling." Dodie Cross, author of "A Broad Abroad in Thailand: An Expat's Misadventures in the Land of Smiles"

Worth more than one reading

This is a valuable book because the three friends--Fred, Maizy, and Zale--face difficult real life problems, but even when some of their decisions seem wrong, the author doesn't judge. Instead, she enlightens us and gets us to thinking about friendship, loyalty, and duty, but we're never lectured. Stillerman has a lean, spare style that keeps the story moving and makes the book a fast read. She doesn't try to hide all the turns of the plot, so there were lines I knew must be coming, but still when I read them, they sent a chill through me. Fred, Maizy, and Zale were so interesting, I would love to know what happened to each of them afterward.