Splat!

Gregory Bryan is a member of the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

Fifteen-year-old friends Alex and Keegan live in the small town of Leamington, Ontario, where everyone knows everybody else. As such, Alex and Keegan’s reputations for trouble are problematic given that their respective fathers occupy the positions of mayor and chief of police.

In Leamington, everything revolves around “growing, canning or shipping tomatoes,” and each year the town hosts a Tomato Festival. For the current festival, Alex and Keegan are pressured into organizing a “Tomato Toss.” The festival’s annual parade spins out of control, however, when Keegan cannot resist targeting his rival Owen’s tuba in the marching band.

Walters’s short, easy to read, engaging novel includes lots of dialogue (with liberal doses of friendly banter between the protagonists), lots of humour, and a few descriptive passages that keep the story moving at a fast pace. The novel is sure to appeal to pre- and early teen boys as well as older, reluctant teen readers. Recommended.