Notorious

About this book

Keenan is bored. He is recovering from tuberculosis, acquired while overseas with his mom. Now he’s stuck sitting in a lawn chair at his dad’s place on Centerlight, Michigan, an island of about 7000 residents in the St. Clair River that is divided in two by the Canada-US border.

When Keenan meets ZeeBee, a girl his age who lives lives on the Canadian side of the border, his life becomes anything but boring. ZeeBee is full of conspiracy theories. Paramount among her theories is that notorious gangster Tommy-Gun Ferguson (original owner of the house she now lives in) buried millions in treasure on the island during the Prohibition era. She’s also convinced her recently deceased dog Barney was murdered — apparently he was a notorious terror and not a favourite among the locals.

Keenan isn’t convinced by either of these theories, but soon some clues turn up that even he can’t ignore. Will the pair of them find the treasure and solve the mystery of what happened to Barney . . . or will the dog-murdering criminals find them first?

Told in Gordon’s now classic multi-voice style, Notorious combines mystery, comedy, and a story of new friendships.

Reviews

Praise for Notorious:

“Korman brings his usual humor and heart to this well-plotted mystery. . .” —Publishers Weekly

“Korman is reliably at the head of the pack in middle-grade quirkiness . . .” —Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Notorious is a loony, endearing Gordon Korman tale of middle school kids dealing with unlikely but quietly life-changing situations.” —Common Sense Media