Twelfth by Janet Key

Twelfth by Janet Key
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Easy to read and with a satisfying storyline, I was delighted, inspired, and still very entertained.

The summer is not starting well for 7th grader Maren Sands. Her popular older sister, Hadley, had returned home to Boston after a disastrous first semester away at college in New York and had since withdrawn from her friends and family and life. She shut herself in her bedroom and did not talk to anyone or even get out of bed. It was all their mother could do to tend to whatever was up with her until it became apparent the girl desperately needed professional help. The girls’ parents had divorced years earlier, and their musician father, who was on the road for days at a time, couldn’t take Maren with him or let her stay alone at his place. Their mother’s solution was to pack Maren off to the same summer theater camp Hadley had attended throughout her childhood so she could focus on Hadley’s recovery.

Theater camp was so not Maren’s thing. To make the situation worse, when Maren gets to her cabin, she finds out her bunkmate is truly one-of-a-kind. Theo, with their ever-present camera in hand and they/them pronouns, has already attracted the scorn of some of the other campers. Maren, wanting to just fade into the background of camp life and wait for the summer to be over, realizes her proximity to Theo will absolutely shove her into the limelight.

But almost immediately, a mystery surrounding the camp commands Maren and Theo’s attention. Not only is there a famed diamond ring that legend says is hidden at the camp and tales of a ghost sighting on the property, but the acting teacher has mysteriously disappeared, her car still in the parking lot. When Maren receives an unsigned card with a mysterious quote on it, and she and Theo secretly overhear an ominous conversation in the costume storage building where cellphones aren’t supposed to work, they are thrust into the mysterious past of Goodman’s Camp.

Twelfth, a reference to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the play the campers are to perform at the end of camp, is a unique middle-grade novel of mystery, suspense, self-awareness, and the need each person has to be seen for who they are. Told in dual timelines, one set in the summer of 2015 and the other beginning in the early 1940s and continuing into the 1950s, two distinct plots wend their way toward each other until they come together in one remarkable story. I was completely immersed in both tales and appreciated how the characters from each one experienced similar struggles. I was gripped by how each set of characters chose to handle being outside societal norms and the impact on their choices that a 60-year separation in time had.

Maren and Theo are great characters. Maren arrives at the camp in a total funk, but she is actually pretty game to get things going and the summer done. She’s never sullen or whiny, just really disappointed, confused, and torn about what is going on with her family. She’s ready just to endure it all and surprises herself with what a good time she has as she works through the mystery and her personal feelings. Theo is so upbeat and delightfully driven to follow their dreams. I loved their daily vests and quest for extras in the cafeteria. I admire anyone who can take on the opinions of others like they did and come out on top. Allegra is perfect as the pair’s antagonist; we all know THAT girl.

Most of all, I loved the twists and turns the story makes. Just when I thought I knew where things were going (and they eventually do get there), the author threw a fantastic curveball. Easy to read, with a satisfying conclusion, I was delighted, inspired, and very entertained.

Diverse and well-drawn, the characters in Twelfth felt realistic. I thought they could easily match the random makeup of people and personalities one finds in real life. The exciting story held my attention; I would have happily read the book in one sitting, and I feel even reluctant readers would stick with it. I recommend TWELFTH to readers who enjoy a fun and exciting mystery with true-to-life personal issues complicating characters’ lives and those who want some insight into the hearts and minds of someone who doesn’t fit society’s gender molds.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the publisher through TBR and Beyond Tours.

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