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LJ ‘fibber’ Clarkson tells everyone she gave up her Environmental Engineering career to write full time. But that's not entirely true. Ten percent of the time she sleeps in. Playing spider solitaire consumes 5% (bad, bad habit). Running Indicated, a promotional and support site for authors steals another 18.75%. In her remaining waking hours, she writes, laughs at her own jokes, reads and falls asleep whenever her boyfriend reels off geeky computer lingo (zzzzzz). If she were a Mastermind, she’d uninvent early mornings, grammar, broccoli, cleaning and her dog’s fussy eating habits.
Reviewed by Patricia Reding for Readers' Favorite
The Silver Strand, by L.J. Clarkson, introduces readers to Isabelle Tresdon — an artist and scientist who, while suffering through gym class with a headache, ends up on the floor with pink dust that sparkles around her, then fades away. Minutes later, Isabelle sprouts “granny hair.” This silver streak worries Isabelle. Will the others kids now give her “grandma" nicknames, like Ethel, Beryl, or Shirley? With the assistance of her best friend, Bianca, Isabelle attempts to cut off the silver streak. Only later does she learn that it is her ticket into the Mastermind Academy, a school of magic. Presented with a series of tests she must pass in order to earn back her silver streak, Isabelle begins a journey full of chaos, worry, and fun. She discovers how to use her imagination to envision the solution to a problem, how to appreciate her own unique beauty and that of others, and how to believe in herself.
In The Silver Strand, Clarkson has provided Isabelle support via a cast of characters rich in quirky personality traits. Meet Bianca, the tough best friend who uses her shirt to wipe off “a year’s worth of smudges” from her eyeglasses. Meet “Mom,” who has kept her own silver streak hidden all these years! One after the other, from Mr. Higgins, the science teacher who conducts dangerous in-class experiments, to Jemima, who accuses Isabelle of being an alien, to Boldrick, destined to live in the form of a cat for years, to Esme the daredevil, to Max the toad, to Ramala the dragon — who initially intends to season, roast, and then eat Isabelle — The Silver Strand delivers. With charm, wit and laugh-out-loud dialogue and prose, Clarkson has created a story that is destined to become a favorite for middle grade and pre-teen readers!
