Gideon Green in Black and White by Katie Henry
Gideon’s short-lived run as a locally-famous boy detective ended when middle school started, and everyone else–including his best friend, Lily–moved on while Gideon kept holding on to his trench coat, fedora, and his treasured film noir collection. Now, he’s sixteen and officially retired. That is, until Lily shows up suddenly at Gideon’s door, needing his help.
He might be mad at her for cutting him off with no explanation, but Gideon can’t turn down a case. As a cover, Gideon joins Lily on the school paper. Surprisingly, he finds himself warming up to the welcoming, close-knit staff . . . especially Tess, the cute, witty editor-in-chief.
But as the case gets bigger than Gideon or Lily could have anticipated, Gideon must balance his black-and-white quest for the truth with the full colours of real-life–or risk a permanent fade to black.
Gideon is a weird character and I adored him. He has no filter and is a loner, but he also cares a lot. He just doesn’t always know how to express himself. He used to be best friends with Lily, but she started ignoring him in middle school. She hangs out with the popular girls now, but they used to be detectives together when they were young. Gideon even solved a crime. But he says he’s a retired detective and spends all his time in his room (it’s San Diego, get outside in that sunshine!). Lily comes to Gideon for his help. She is working on a news story for the paper, but her editor in chief says no. Lily can’t give up because she thinks it can be something big. Their nice area has a huge increase in crimes, but nothing violent. And everyone is getting caught. She knows one guy that got in trouble and they start with talking to him. Gideon can’t help getting pulled back into solving crimes. Lily even gets him to join the paper. He finds himself with actual friends and a place that feels like home. He also likes Tess. A lot.
The book was a lot of fun. I like Katie’s humor and loved Gideon’s character.
I gave this book 4 1/2 stars.
Have you read this? Is it on your TBR?
