I don’t usually review this short of a book, but I had a few words I wanted to say:

I really enjoy the Mercy Watson books. They’re light and hilarious, with a cast full of wonderfully weird characters and maybe a bit of a lesson in their along for the ride.

But man, I don’t know if I can read this one again–am I just too old? To start with, every Saturday, there’s a tradition of going for a ride, Mercy wants to drive, and bribery is needed to get her out of the driver’s seat. Every weekend. That’s not a healthy tradition.

Then Mr. Watson pulls out without looking back. He’s a ‘forward looking man’. It’s treated as nothing, despite the fact that he could very well kill someone.

And then we end up with Mercy jumping into the driver’s seat. Again, they could (and should) have ended up wrecking. Mercy is treated like a child, but without any sort of consequences. I can’t believe I’m agreeing with Eugenia… but she is a menace.

Luckily, everyone survives and gets a ride back in the police cruiser (they just left the car?). Officer Tomilello asks himself if he should give a ticket… but is bribed with toast. End of story.

Okay. Rant over. It’s not a terrible book and I do in general love reading the series to my children. But perhaps I’ll be skipping this one for the time being…