The Capybara Conspiracy by Erica S. Perl

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Capybara Conspiracy by Erica S. Perl Kate Quealy-Gainer, Assistant Editor Perl, Erica S. The Capybara Conspiracy. Knopf, 2016 [192p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55172-7 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55171-0 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55173-4 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-7 Seventh-grader and aspiring playwright Olive Henry stars in this three act play about a missing mascot. Scene One opens with Olive in the principal’s office, eyeing up [End Page 89] new student Dev and proceeding to tell him the lengthy story of what landed her in the school’s hot seat—joining with friends to kidnap Cappy the Capybara, beloved mascot of Farley Middle School, to gain some attention for the non-athletic clubs. The heist of the big rodent did not go as planned, hence the principal’s office and the three acts. The script format initially seems a kitschy device but soon becomes essential to the comedic flair. The characters are cheerfully over the top: Olive’s friend Rey often voices his fear that Cappy is really a chupacabra; animal activist Brie has an in with the “Capybara Liberation Front” and some mad fighting skills. The dialogue is witty and quick paced, and the stage directions often steal the scene: “a short kid dressed in a ridiculous crap costume enters, walking sideways, crablike” describes the school’s former mascot. This could easily make for some entertaining readers’ theater or an actual play, and Olive helpfully gives staging and performance tips in the endnotes. The final scene has an appropriately dramatic and theatrical twist that will having readers laughing even as they’re saying, “Wait, what?” Copyright © 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois