Regarding the Bathrooms

Regarding the Bathrooms
written by Kate Klise, Illustrated by M. Sarah Klise



Nobody does sequels quite like Kate Klise! While the target age for these books is actually 9-12, it's one of those instances where I think slapping an age range is fully idiotic. I read the first Klise book at the age of 11, and the sequels have been so great that I just never thought to stop. These books are amazing examples of stories that can be treasured at any age. They're written as epistolary novels, entirely in letters, notes, and newspaper articles. The older reader will see foreshadowing throughout the entire novel, but will still never be able to guess the surprise ending until they've read it. And once they've read it, they'll want to read it again, and again, and again. They never get old and were made for rereads. Now, ordinarily, with the reintroduction of Sally Mander and Dee Eel (and don't you just love those names? They're all like that, too!) I would say sloppy writing, too lazy to come up with new characters, but it worked, it really worked. I'd been wondering what had happened to our favourite criminal duo and was glad to see the jail wasn't strong enough to keep their nefarious plots from continuing. I continued to love seeing the kids (and, one could argue, the adults) growing up and learning new things, leading up to a satisfying conclusion in both this book, and, in its sequel, the series as a whole.

Rating: 5/5