The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse: A Chet Gecko Mystery

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Summary: The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse
Review: Chet Gecko is a lizard with an attitude. He's also the guy to go to if you have a mystery to solve at Emerson Hicky Elementary School. In the first book of the Chet Gecko mystery series, The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse, Shirley the Chameleon asks for Chet's help in locating her missing brother, a troublesome first grader named Billy. With the promise of a piece of stinkbug pie and a "cootie" filled kiss from Shirley, Chet sets off to solve the mystery.

His detective work leads him to an assortment of unsavory characters: the Rat sisters, who steal his lunch and give him misleading clues; two frightening teachers, Mrs. Toaden (a toad) and Mrs. Glick (an alligator), who almost prevent Chet from solving his case; and Herman the Gila Monster, a huge, poisonous, sixth grade football player, who is up to something bad. With the help of a mockingbird friend named Natalie Attired, Chet finds his way in and out of the classroom in his rush to solve the mystery before the football game that afternoon.

Author Bruce Hale narrates the story from Chet's point of view, and Chet's smart, cool attitude is portrayed through his thoughts and dialogue. Unique, humorous descriptions serve to highlight each character. However, the sheer number of characters makes the story a bit confusing to follow and doesn't allow the reader to connect as well with the main characters. The plot also drags on and on, and the final conflict doesn't seem to be important enough to take up a whole book. Also, the overly witty dialogue gets a bit redundant at times. Perhaps, for a child, the story is more intriguing than for me as an adult. (I'll have to test it out with my class.)

For kids looking for a good laugh and an unusual situation (such as a school consisting of mainly amphibians, reptiles, and rodents), this may be a decent book. While the mystery and plot wasn't particularly interesting, the characters themselves are fun to read about. The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse can be recommended as a light read for children ages 8 and up.

Rating:
Summary: The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse
Review: Chet Gecko is a lizard with an attitude. He's also the guy to go to if you have a mystery to solve at Emerson Hicky Elementary School. In the first book of the Chet Gecko mystery series, The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse, Shirley the Chameleon asks for Chet's help in locating her missing brother, a troublesome first grader named Billy. With the promise of a piece of stinkbug pie and a "cootie" filled kiss from Shirley, Chet sets off to solve the mystery.

His detective work leads him to an assortment of unsavory characters: the Rat sisters, who steal his lunch and give him misleading clues; two frightening teachers, Mrs. Toaden (a toad) and Mrs. Glick (an alligator), who almost prevent Chet from solving his case; and Herman the Gila Monster, a huge, poisonous, sixth grade football player, who is up to something bad. With the help of a mockingbird friend named Natalie Attired, Chet finds his way in and out of the classroom in his rush to solve the mystery before the football game that afternoon.

Author Bruce Hale narrates the story from Chet's point of view, and Chet's smart, cool attitude is portrayed through his thoughts and dialogue. Unique, humorous descriptions serve to highlight each character. However, the sheer number of characters makes the story a bit confusing to follow and doesn't allow the reader to connect as well with the main characters. The plot also drags on and on, and the final conflict doesn't seem to be important enough to take up a whole book. Also, the overly witty dialogue gets a bit redundant at times. Perhaps, for a child, the story is more intriguing than for me as an adult. (I'll have to test it out with my class.)

For kids looking for a good laugh and an unusual situation (such as a school consisting of mainly amphibians, reptiles, and rodents), this may be a decent book. While the mystery and plot wasn't particularly interesting, the characters themselves are fun to read about. The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse can be recommended as a light read for children ages 8 and up.

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Summary: This is a fantastic book
Review: Fourth-grade sleuth, Chet Gecko, has experienced numerous different cases. Some start off easy, and some start off slowly. This particular case starts out with Shirley, a fourth-grade cheerleader, whose younger brother, Billy, is missing. Shirley promises Chet a heaping piece of stinkbug pie if he finds Billy before the football game. However, the football game is this afternoon. So Chet, with the help of his friend, Natalie Attired, a Mockingbird, quickly begin searching for clues. But they soon realize that if they don't work fast, Chet can say good-bye to his stinkbug pie.

I have seen the CHET GECKO MYSTERIES in the bookstore for years, but had never read any of the books in the series. However, the other day I decided to give THE CHAMELEON WORE CHARTREUSE a try, and I was not at all disappointed. Bruce Hale has done a wonderful job of creating a school that consists mainly of rodents, amphibians, birds, and various other animals. His hilarious wit, and many riddles will keep young readers enthralled until the very last page, and keep them coming back for more. If you're looking for a book to get your reluctant reader reading, THE CHAMELEON WORE CHARTREUSE is it.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

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Summary: Tons Of Fun
Review: In Hebrew the character "Chet" is written the same way as the Greek character "pi" (any circle's circumference divided by its diameter = pi). So Chet's first name *sort of* means pi (P.I.: Private Investigator). Just another of Hale's endless, clever puns.

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Summary: Tons Of Fun
Review: The jokes are great! It got me right from the start. An excellent introduction to an excellent series.

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Summary: My older brother liked it a lot too
Review: The part when he solved the mystery the best except when he got kissed. That was very sick. I am reading the second book. My brother wants to read it too. I liked Chet and his partner the Mockingbird the best.

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Summary: My 4th grade class loved it!
Review: This book was written in the style of an old Mickey Spillane novel... I found it extremely enjoyable to read to my class! Some parts were a little difficult to understand because of numerous similes... but it was a fun opportunity to work on the subtleties of language. My class wants to read all of the Chet Gecko mysteries now. I highly recommend it for your 9 or 10 year old!