Sunday, August 5, 2012

Year of the Gadfly

Year of the Gadfly
By Jennifer Miller
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012 374 pgs. Fiction

The story begins with Iris Dupont entering Mariana Academy, a posh private school, as a transfer student. She is struggling to accept with the suicide of her best friend and is accompanied by her invisible mentor and confidant, Edward R. Murrow. Like her hero, she dreams of becoming a top flight investigative reporter dedicated to Truth. Before long she is invited to join Prisom's Party, a secrey society dedicated to upholding the school's rigorous honor code by exposing those who violate it. One of her favorite teachers, an alumnus of the school, is assigned the task of discovering the identity of the Prisom's Party members following a scandal involving his predecessor. Iris is ordered by her new associates in the Party to find out what her teacher is hiding. In addition, there is the mystery of the disappearance of a girl who knew Iris's teacher when he was a student twelve years before. What follows is not only the unraveling of mysteries, but also journey's of self-discovery.

I rather enjoyed this book. Many people when reading this book will no doubt reach for smart phone, tablet or laptop computer to find out who the heck is Edward R. Murrow. I remember him from the film 'Good night and good luck'. I thought this a rather clever plot device. This book is similar to Special Topics in Calamity Physics and to a lesser degree, Prep or I am Charlotte Simmons. This was a very interesting and thoughtful story.

CHW

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