World of Adventure 9 – Project: A Perfect World

Gary Paulsen's Project: A Perfect World is a creepy mystery for 10 year olds about a boy whose brand-new town is just a bit too perfect.

What happens

Jim Stanton is NOT happy about moving. His dad has landed the job of a lifetime at a science lab in New Mexico. Jim has had to leave his friends and his place as pitcher with two games of the season still to play (which feels very unfair to him).

The new house is already full of new things. Signed baseball pictures cover his bedroom walls. His little sister Laura gets a pink room with a doll waiting on the bed. Nobody asked them what they wanted.

Then the neighbours call round. The boy from down the road has a clammy handshake and a smile that isn't friendly at all. Everyone says "Welcome to the company" and nobody seems to mean it. Where are all the kids? And why does nobody chat?

Up in the hills Jim meets Maria. She hangs out of trees with a little monkey called Sammy, and she's sure the people in town have had something done to their brains. Jim decides she's a complete wacko. Then she throws a baseball straight into his stomach and he likes her a lot more.

It's a quick, page-turning read. Jim is good company. He's grumpy and sarcastic and funny, and he calls his sister "squirt" even while he's quietly worrying about her.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Jim is thirteen, a little older than most readers on this shelf, and this story gets properly dark in places. There's a strange injection at a medical check that leaves Jim with a pounding head and no memory. There's a man who had his leg broken years ago for asking questions. There's some very rough home surgery with a hunting knife (Maria's uncle means well!). Later on Jim takes matters into his own hands with dynamite.

If your reader is easily unsettled by grown-ups who can't be trusted, this might be too much for now. If they love a proper "something is wrong in this town" mystery, they'll probably race through it.

What to read next

If this one goes down well, Time Benders is another from the same series. Two very different twelve-year-olds win a trip to meet top scientists in Washington, and then nobody turns up at the airport to collect them.