Dying to Meet You: 43 Old Cemetery Road

Klise, Kate. 2009. Dying to Meet You: 43 Old Cemetery Road: Book One. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Here’s a new genre for you – “graphic epistolary mystery!” Not sure what that is? Fans of Kate Klise’s, Regarding the …, series will know and so you will you after reading this first in a new series, 43 Old Cemetery Road. Kate Klise and her sister, illustrator M. Sarah Klise, return to their signature format of illustrated, mystery novels written in the form of letters.

Similar to their previous collaborations, Regarding the Fountain, Regarding the Sink, and subsequent titles in that series, Dying to Meet You unfolds through a series of letters. This time, penned by a boy, a ghost, a real estate agent, a literary agent, a writer, and a lawyer, the letters seek to unravel the story of the peculiar circumstances regarding the old Victorian mansion at 43 Old Cemetery Road. Writer, Ignatius Grumply, has rented the mansion for the summer but is unaware that it is already inhabited by the young boy, Seymour Hope and a ghost, Olive C. Spence. Humor abounds in the simple black and white sketches, the characters’ names (Anita Sale, real estate agent, Fay Tality and her dog Mort), and of course, in the epistles,

"P.S. I recognize the name Olive C. Spence. Isn’t she the woman listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for receiving the most rejection slips in history? If memory serves, she wrote something called graphic epistolary mysteries – or some such unmarketable nonsense."

Sometimes profound,

"All I’m saying is that your life is a story, and that you are the main character
of that story. Is your story a comedy or a tragedy? Is it dull? Or is it a
compelling, spine-tingling drama? …each of us is the author of his or her own
life,...if you're telling me that you've changed, I'm pleased at your authorship."

but mostly light-hearted, the new 43 Cemetery Road series will appeal to 4th-6th graders, boys, and especially fans of the Regarding the… series.

Regarding the Fountain: A tale, in letters, of liars and leaks

Klise, Kate. 1999. Regarding the fountain: A tale in letters, of liars and leaks.

I read this first in the Regarding the... series, because my book club has chosen it. I was already a fan, having read Regarding the Bathrooms: A Privy to the Past (see earlier post) a few months back. I'm still a fan, but I did prefer the later book in the series. Regarding the Fountain is a great place to start, though. This first book follows the students from Dry Creek Middle School through their fifth grade year. That being said, it's a great choice for 5th grade students, particularly reluctant readers or children who are comfortable sticking with a series. In the later books, the children grow older, the plot grows thicker, and the mystery becomes less obvious. The Regarding the... series is meant to grow along with the reader.

This book, like later ones, is full of puns, interesting facts, drawings, and of course - letters. An interesting and engaging format. I love it.

Regarding the Bathrooms: A Privy to the Past

Klise, Kate. 2006. Regarding the Bathrooms: A Privy to the Past. Ill. By M. Sarah Klise. Orlando: Harcourt.

I don’t know how I missed the other books in this Regarding the ___ series. I’ve only read this one book, but I think that the series idea is pure genius.

Regarding the Bathrooms is a mystery concerning the basement bathrooms of the Geyser Creek Middle School, various Geyser Creek residents (including Liet. Sting Ray of the police force, Jeannie Ologee of the Geyser Creek His, Hers, and Theirs-storical Society), Hugh Dunnit of Interpol, members of the sixth grade class, and the always effervescent, Florence Waters. Like an episode of Seinfeld, seemingly unconnected people and events come together with hilarious results.

It is the multi-genre style that makes this series so engaging. The entire story is told using nothing but newspaper articles,

“The Geyser Creek Gazette
Sally Mander and Delbert “Dee” Eel Escape
Principal Russ to Host SPA Conference
Geyser Creek Middle School Principal Walter Russ will host the upcoming conference of the Society of Principals and Administrators (SPA). Russ stated that until this morning, his biggest challenge was getting the school’s basement bathroom in presentable condition before the conference on August 31. He has asked designer Florence Waters to oversee the project.
‘Now, of course, I’m more stressed out about having escaped convicts on the loose,’ Russ ruminated.
Russ will have to worry about the cons and the johns – and write his own letters to Ms. Waters – without the help of school secretary Goldie Fisch-N., who is taking the summer off for personal reasons.”

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“For Sale
Wedding Ring
Barely used, microscopic diamond
Contact Angel Fisch”

letters, postcards, posters, flyers, notes, transcripts, and school bulletins. Each one is humorously illustrated and formatted to bear resemblance to its real counterpart.
The mystery can be completely solved using clues found within the primary source documents. The middle school students, six in all, (each apprenticed to a business or organization for the summer) work together to solve Geyer Creek’s latest mystery.

The story is full of puns, as evidenced in this excerpt from a letter from Florence Waters to the Principal,

“I’m assuming your students will assist me in the renovation. I’d be plumb crazy to plunge into a project this serious (hee-hee) without consulting my favorite pen pals. They’re always flush with great ideas! ….. P.S. Don’t worry about the visiting principals seeing evidence of waste. The simplest flushing mechanism will take care of that.”

This series should be great for reluctant and/or humor-loving readers. The mix of fonts, drawings, sketches, and handwritten notes makes Regarding the Bathrooms a breeze to read. An added bonus, readers will learn a bit of ancient history, some Latin, and various writing styles.

I can’t wait to read Regarding the Bees: A Lesson, in Letters, on Honey, Dating, and Other Sticky Subjects – just in time for this year’s Summer Reading Club theme, Catch the Reading Bug!