The Pickle King by Rebecca Promitzer

Promitzer, Rebecca. The Pickle King, 416 pgs. Chicken House (Scholastic), 2010. $17.99 Sexual Content-G; Language-G; Violence-PG-13. Bea’s dad is dead and her mom is insane. She lives with her mom’s friend Bertha in Elbow—a place where it rains all summer. Most kids leave during the summer, but the ones who stay end up on a list called Summer Club. They are supposed to do things together and report about it when they get back to school. Bea and her best friend Sam rename the club the “Raintown Convicts.” One day her friend Sam tells her to bring her camera. He takes her to see a dead body. She takes pictures of the body that is missing an eyeball. Bea and Sam meet and initiate the other three Raintown Convicts, namely: wealthy Madison, not-so-inventive Eric, and friendly Butterfly. For Butterfly’s initiation she has to open the purse that Sam’s dog Jellybean stole from a violent man named Mr. Jeeks. She finds human intestines inside. They think the intestines are from the man whose body Sam and Bea saw. They decide to solve the mystery of his murder; little do they know that their very lives are on the line. A good mystery that is definitely gruesome. EL – ADVISABLE. Samantha, Public Librarian.