Eleven year old Sam Brattle, the protagonist of this Cybil award winning middle grade novel, reminds me of a young man I know. He’s managed to start himself on a downward path to juvenile delinquency, and he’s not sure how it happened nor how to turn things around. Sam’s dad can’t handle him. His mom doesn’t want him to come for their annual Christmas visit because she has some changes going on in her life. And now he’s managed to vandalize his neighbor’s house and Christmas display to the tune of hundreds of dollars worth of damage—and get caught red-handed.
Nickel Bay Nick was a good variation on an old plot: child in need of mentorship and discipline gets inadvertently hooked up with an older mentor. Usually, the young delinquent owes the older person something or is forced to help the older person as payment or penance for past crimes and misdemeanors. Sam Brattle ends up involved in a Christmas caper that stretches his talents and his self-control. Sam gets to be a spy and a secret agent, but he’s an agent for good and his secretive spy skills turn out to be a blessing for the entire town of Nickel Bay.
This book would make a good secular read aloud for Christmas time. The values are good, and Sam turns out to be (become?) not such a bad guy.
A study guide, an audio sample, and a sample chapter are available at Mr. Pitchford’s website.
The Commonsense Media review of this title gives some caveats and some questions to discuss while reading Nickel Bay Nick.