The Secret of Zoom

Author: Lynne Jonell

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company

Publication Year: 2009

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary and early middle school girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another book that has some cool inventions, read The Gadget War by Betsy Duffy.

Summary:
Christina Adnoid lives with her father in the Loompski mansion. Her father is the head scientist for Loompski Labs and her mother died in an explosion when Christina was young. Her father tries to protect Christina by having her home schooled by a computer and keeping her inside as much as possible. But first Christina meets one of the orphans from the nearby orphanage run by Lenny Loompski and then she finds a secret passage out of the mansion. Christina and Taft (the orphan) learn that Lenny Loompski is up to no good. Can they save the other orphans and reveal Lenny's nefarious plot? With the help of Christina's perfect pitch and a magical stone called "zoom" they can.

My favorite passage:

The orphans sat in the dust, all eyes fixed on Christina. She had told them very little about herself - who knew if one of them might accidentally blurt something out in front of a guard? But they seemed most interested in the fact that she wasn't an orphan.
"So..." Dorset traced a line in the dirt with her finger. "What's it like to have a father?"
Christina looked around the circle of children. The faces were all different, and yet every child had the same look: unwashed, uncared-for, eyes large and hungry.
The small boy at Christina's side tugged at her sleeve. "Not a Happy Orphan Daddy," he whispered. "The real kind."
"Well," Christina began, and stopped. What could she possibly say?
The orphans inched closer, leaning in to hear.
Christina tried again. "I guess...a real father keeps you safe."
A soft sigh went up from each orphan throat.
"What about a mother?" asked a small girl with tangled hair and an upturned nose. "What does she do?"
Christina gazed at the girl thoughtfully and reached out a hand. "A mother does a lot of things. Like this, for one." She pulled the girl in close and began to comb gently through the tangled hair with her fingers. (pg 215-216)

What I really think:
This book started out a little slow but I quickly grew to love it. As a music person I like that the zoom is activated by singing and the little air plane is turned on by singing the notes in a chord. But what really got me was the passage I transcribed above.

So many protagonists have parents that are absent or not too great. This allows children to have adventures and furthers the storyline. But, it is still nice to have this one book where the child talks warmly about her parents, both of whom are still alive. (I know I said Christina's mother is dead, you'll have to read the book to see how Jonell pulls this off.)

At first Christina's father does seem a little distant. He keeps her isolated from the outside world, and likes to talk to her about math (which she hates). But Christina knows how much he loves her and appreciates that he is trying to keep her safe. The beauty of her family really makes the book.