A look at the power of stereotypes of all kinds (racial, cultural, sexual, etc.) and how they can color one’s thinking.

In rural, routine Hudson Landing, the biggest stirs are the big new supermarket and Kristen Clarke, the beautiful daughter of the supermarket manager. Now something new is happening with the “foreign exchange” weekend in which high school kids from the big city are invited to spend time matched with a Hudson Landing peer. But after the dance, Kristen’s body is found in the lake, a victim of murder. Everyone assumes Kwame, the African-American boy from the city, did it because he was at the scene. It turns out it was the alcoholic city council member, Oliver Nesbitt whose little grocery was failing because of the supermarket.

I'd give this a 2.5 if it were possible. I typically love novels in verse because some of the poems, or a set of poems, are just so well done--I may linger on a few and relish the technique. However, this was just like Witness (Hesse) in that you have to keep track of like 20 different characters, with barely enough development for any of them to really stand out. As with Witness, the plot is almost entirely implicit, requiring a great degree of inference ability on the part of the reader (so no low-level readers for this one). The mystery aspect of the plot lacked suspense, probably due to the lack of a detective & clues. I figured out who killed Kristin Clarke early in, but later realized that possible motives were being suggested about most of the characters and considered the possibility of each for just a fleeting moment. The confession came too soon, rendering the same effect as a Scooby Doo mystery.

It wasn't completely useless, though, as it portrayed some themes very effectively, with the use of poems from multiple voices with similar structure & diction juxtaposed, like the disadvantages of life in small towns (the way the people interact), universal issues faced by teens from all backgrounds (a stereotype-buster), racism, and how gossip (or "the media") can lead to hysteria.

My overall reaction is: Hmmmm....interesting. And that's about it. ( )

This was an enjoyable read. The verse sketches of the characters rang true, and Glenn perfectly captured the atmosphere of a small, rural, close-knit town. However, it wasn't much of a mystery. I didn't really care much who killed Kirsten, and the identification at the murderer at the end didn't bring any thrill to me, or even that sense of “aha, of course it had to have been him!” thing which I believe is essential to a good murder mystery. ( )

When students from urban Tower High School are invited to spend a weekend in Hudson Landing, not all of the residents of the rural town are pleased. The city kids will bring crime and drugs, some say. There's no place for them in small-town America.
Each urban teenager is paired with a rural teen, with interesting, and sometimes comic, results. But when beautiful local girl Kristen Clarke is found murdered, townspeople point the finger at Kwame Richards, an African-American boy from Tower High who danced with Kristen at the "foreign exchange" dance.
Award-winning poet Mel Glenn has written a compelling mystery-told through poetry-that explores stereotypes and prejudice, and that delves into the inner lives of teens and townspeople. Readers will become absorbed in this story in poems as they try to figure out who killed kristen Clarke. ( )