The Romeo and Juliet Code (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Romeo and Juliet Code Elizabeth Bush Stone, Phoebe . The Romeo and Juliet Code. Levine/Scholastic, 2011. [304p]. ISBN 978-0-545-21511-4 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 5-7. With German bombs exploding over her London home, eleven-year-old Felicity can see the prudence in relocating temporarily to stay with her father’s family in the United States. There’s clearly tension among the relatives, and the obvious estrangement between the adult brothers in particular is only the first of many [End Page 299] mysteries Felicity (quickly nicknamed “Flissy” by her makeshift guardians) will encounter as America edges closer to entry into World War II and her parents seem to disappear from her life. Flissy tries to hold the Rathburn family at emotional arms’ length, but their steady affection and the discovery of an adoptive cousin, Derek, who has been secretly recovering upstairs from a polio attack, draw her into the family circle. She and Derek set out to investigate Uncle Gideon’s strange comings and goings, coded messages that arrive from Felicity’s father in the mail, the identity of bureaucratic visitors from Washington, the actual whereabouts of Flissy’s parents, and climactically (but not at all surprisingly) the dark family secret concerning her parentage. There’s a heckuvalot going on here, and the metaphoric layer of Flissy’s absorption in the works of Frances Hodgson Burnett (there’s no mistaking The Secret Garden’s echoes in the story) threatens to send the entire enterprise over the edge. Moreover, Flissy’s bouts of babyishness, which manifest in projecting her emotions onto her stuffed bear, can be mighty annoying. The theme of wartime espionage, ramped up with a spicy backstory of a mum/dad/ uncle love triangle, may nonetheless draw in readers who favor a bit of melodrama in their historical fiction. [End Page 300] Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois