Breaking News!: Trilogy

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Breaking News!, featuring Kim and Scott Campbell, their parents, Tommie
and Chris, their Russian wolfhound, Max, and their friends Amy and Alex,
presents three novels under one cover. The first, “Diamond in the
Ruff,” begins none too auspiciously when Max poops out a huge diamond,
setting off a highly implausible chain of events from which Kim and
Scott, with the help of their friends, emerge triumphant over
unscrupulous global corporations. In “Playing with Fire,” the
adventures continue with a suspicious fire wiping out a popular
“board” shop and the kids stumbling upon a plan to smuggle goods
into the country via a submarine. Finally, in “Stupid Cupid,” all
twists, turns, and subplots are resolved through the efforts of Kim and
Amy and their pheromone-based Science Fair project.

Obviously intended for teen readers, it would appear to have been
teen-authored, since it is rife with the kind of humour that supposedly
appeals to that group: potty language, bodily functions, and cutesy
names (e.g., Principal Toole) and expressions (e.g., H E double hockey
sticks) are all included. The series title, “Kids [sic] Opinions
Count,” is repeated whenever possible. Disjointed and episodic, the
book could benefit from some judicious editing to weed out errors in
grammar and word usage. Not recommended.