The Deep End Gang

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

With his dad in the military, 12-year-old Martin Jessup has grown so
accustomed to pulling up stakes every two or three years that moving
from Winnipeg to small-town Branch, Ontario, barely fazes him. As he
puts it, “Our old friends … would get along just fine without us,
the way they had before we arrived. And we’d make new friends in
Ontario.” Sure enough, before long, Martin, along with new
acquaintances Holly and Granger, has formed The Deep End Gang, named for
their meeting place in the deep end of an empty swimming pool.

Martin, like many youngsters his age, has a tendency to make up
fantastic stories—not lie, exactly, just embellish the facts to make
them seem more interesting. When his older sister, Susan, missing her
friends, “runs away” back to Winnipeg, Martin learns just how
far-reaching the repercussions of not telling the exact truth can be. In
this episode, Susan, too, learns a painful lesson. Upon her return to
Winnipeg, she finds that her friends have moved on with their lives and
no longer have time for her. (Leavey convincingly portrays her
characters as real, believable human beings with both strengths and
weaknesses.)

Martin, with his overactive imagination, is intrigued by the Govier
mansion (where there was an unsolved murder), especially when he notices
lights flickering in the abandoned house. Just as mysterious is
Martin’s neighbour, crotchety Sam Dietz, who uses a wheelchair and who
spends hours sitting in the same spot day after day watching the old
house. Martin, Holly, and Granger make it their mission to investigate
the strange happenings, despite being warned to stay away, first by an
anonymous letter and then by Dietz and his attendant, Cyril Jones.
Naturally, they ignore the warnings, and in doing so, save Dietz’s
life and solve the murder mystery.

The Deep End Gang is an adventure mystery that will be enjoyed by
junior-grade students. Its lively mix of characters, plenty of action,
and excitement will keep them turning the pages right to the end. Highly
recommended.