The Case of the Hidden Shoe: Toby A. Williams

The Case of the Hidden Shoe

Growing up can be difficult along with the changes that come with it. Brooke Lynn has always been friends with Mike her BFF, but something changes after his heart surgery, and he begins to look more mature. Her friend Susie is still close to her, but things are about to change in many different directions.

There is a new housing development going up and Brooke Lynn and her best friend Mike want to explore the site and when they do they find something that sends them on the trail of who left a red stained shoe there and why was it there? The housing developing is just under construction, the paths and the trails and much of the area including the traffic are just some of what the planning committee must deal with, but Brooke Lynn and Mike are going to take this case on and try to find out who the shoe belongs to and why it’s there.

That is not all that is changing as her mother is getting more controlling in what she expects from her, and the rules are more stringent. When to do chores, schoolwork, bedtime, no phones at the table and having a good relationship with her brother and more. Brooke Lynn feels angry, overwhelmed and is even more concerned about her friendship with Mike that has changed in many respects.

Finding the shoe at the site, Mike and Brooke Lynn take on this case and begin to investigate the clues that they find each time they go back there. Sneaking out at night and hoping to not get caught they hear voices, and one is Mike’s teacher Mr. Clemens but who is the other one besides Joe the construction manager and why is Mr. Clemens there? The suspense keeps rising and the tension in her house gets worse as her mother keeps criticizing her and she must study for tests and complete her term paper based on the housing development project. Will they find the underlying cause of the hidden shoe and what will they learn when they do?
Added in who will own the first house in this development and will it be someone famous or someone else?
Tensions rise and when Brooke Lynn and Mike sneak into the sight and get locked in and how they manage to get out takes ingenuity on both of their parts. Brooke Lynn is interested in community affairs and wants to learn more about what the developers will agree to save the trail, stop the traffic congestion and more. She even gives  the construction manager the license plate of the vehicle that was speeding through the site. Friendships are at bay as she and her friend Susie have a falling out when she suspects she likes Mike.

There are many issues that are brought to light in his YA novel such as friendships, loyalties both family and friends, changes in relationships, family values and rules, growing up and maturing, feeling the loss of a friend and pressures from parents wanting their children to succeed in school and facing consequences when wrong.

Brooke Lynn goes through many emotional changes and fears that her best friend Mike might be becoming distant from her and hopes that he won’t move. His father is in the military and is never home and this makes him tense, and he just wants to please his dad and make him proud but when he catches them somewhere and they both get grounded with restrictions things take a on different turn and many lessons are learned by both Brooke Lynn and Mike.

Invitations to his house for dinner, learning his father and her father were friends before and then a note to Susie that could end their friendship will anything ever be the same?

    When Mike’s father explains the events that they witness at the housing development and the truth behind the shoe becomes known you won’t believe the truth as author Toby A. Williams weaves a spider web of intrigue that you will have to unravel to learn the truth. But things get more complicated when both Mike and Brooke Lynn must face their own consequences and she decides to use her time on restriction to redesign her room which sounds like she has a skill for decorating and more. But she wants to become more involved in community affairs and has many innovative ideas for a terrific way to start.

The ending is powerful and the reveal about bought the first house will surprise readers as Brooke Lynn and Mike are trying to close the case of the Hidden Shoe and might have latched on as you will read at the end to another one real soon. Characters that are true to life and emotional changes that are characteristic of young preteens and teens, this is one YA novel that all teens can learn from.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews