Undercover

By Zoe Jacobson, Age 14, Literary Editor of TweenTribune

In Undercover, Elisa writes love poems for her fellow students who are in relationships. But she finds herself falling for Theo, one of her clients, who she tries to woo with her writing. At first it seems as though Theo likes her back, even though he has a girlfriend who is both beautiful and popular.

Elisa is that weird girl who no one really gets, and who is all about nature and finding one self in nature. All of her poems are metaphors for nature or emotions found in nature. The only person who really understands Elisa is her father. While her mother and sister will be off shopping, her father will take Elisa into the forest to explore a new world.

As the story continues, it begins to reveal that the family isn’t what it appears. Her father spends more and more time away from home. Her mother spends more time working and crying over the phone. As Elisa tries to get out of that environment she spends more and more time at the pond trying to ice skate. She says she feels the music within her bones, allowing her passion for the sport show through.

But as Theo’s girlfriend becomes more jealous of Elisa’s friendship with Theo she gets in the way of Elisa’s ice skating dream and trying to bring her family back together.

I thought this book was really weird. The poems sounded like a third grader's poor attempt at college level poetry. (No offense to any third grader.) The synopsis of the novel sounded amazing but I wish I hadn’t ever read it. It dragged on in an annoying manner that seemed as though it would never end. The writing was poor and I found the voice to be of a much younger girl. This was a sad attempt of a plot that was supposed to "speak to teens."

Two thumbs down

Grades 5-7