Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks

We are taking a bit of a break from our Literature Circle books over the summer to read some of the books on the William Allen White Master Lists for this year. This list is a compilation of books that tell a superb story and are voted on by elementary students and middle school students throughout the state.
It's always been my owner's goal to read as many as we can throughout the summer so that he will know which to read to his students during the upcoming school year. Now, he is a bit odd and instead of reading only those on the elementary list, which his students are, this goofball also reads those on the middle school list as well. So, now it's my job to keep my paws moving and write these reviews for him. Mainly because he has a bad memory and can't remember them when the time comes. Maybe I should give him a treat to help him remember, because if I have to eat one more of those healthy dog biscuits, I'm telling you I am going to find the cleanest spot on the floor and ... well, no need to air my laundry here. So, here goes.

The first book we read off the Master List was a book called Jumping the Scratch by Sarah Weeks. Mrs. Weeks also had a book on the list a couple of years ago called So B. It, and we liked it so, this book sounded like a good place to start. The story is about a boy, Jamie Reardon who has had some bad things happen in his life; his cat dies, his father leaves, and his aunt is injured in a an accident that causes her to lose her short term memory, or skip as Jamie likes to call it. Jamie and his mother move in with his aunt in her mobile home to help her out, and it's Jamie's job to try and find a "trigger" that will help spark his aunt's memory loss. Jumping the Scratch refers to the skipping of the memories that Aunt Sapphy is having. Because of a bully, and an insensitive teacher, school isn't the most pleasant for him and his grades start to slip. Jamie is having other issues of his own that he can't explain, and he has weird quirks of his own, such as placing old cherry cans around his bed at night, and walking through the ditch past the maintenance man's trailer instead of using the road. Jamie meets a strange girl from the same trailer park who, through her psychic abilities, and amazingly enough the help of his Aunt Sapphy, and a local author, Jamie is able to untangle some of the mysteries to his life that have made him "jump the scratch".
As with her other novel, Mrs. Weeks gives all of us some great insight as to her characters thoughts and feelings throughout the whole book. Jamie's interaction with his aunt is sometimes funny and sometimes heart breaking knowing that this is what this boy has to look forward to everyday after school. Although, the story's ending was a bit predictable, sad to say in today's society, held my interest all the way through due to the other sub plots going on. Jamie's secret was handled in a careful way to get the point across. I was anticipating how all of it would tie together in the end. I can see students feeling for Jamie's character and rallying around his triumphs. Kids may find the triggering of the Aunt's memory a bit odd and unbelievable but will enjoy the story all the same.
Overall, a very good story with a happy ending, I give it:

Sarah Weeks has produced two tail wagging good books not a part of her "Regular Guy" series and I hope her next is just as good.

- The Reading Dachshund

Publisher: Laura Geringer
ISBN: 978-0-06-054111-8
Price: $5.99 (paperback version)

*2008 William Allen White Master List - Middle School