Thursday, May 15, 2008

Something Fishy

I have been a bit under the weather the last few days so we are late getting started reading this book. Let's get the first couple of Chapters behind us and get a feel for this book. What do we learn about Sammy? Any Surprises?

I understand that the second chapter contains something often found in mystery's - a red herring. What is a 'red herring'? What is the red herring in chapter 2?

2 Comments:

Ben said...

I have a few suspicions about what a red herring is. It may be something that doesn’t belong, or it is something that’s just there, but you can’t get it. They both seem to make sense, but I can’t make up my mind. It seems to make more sense that it’s something that doesn’t belong. Would you agree?

The red herring in the first chapter is the man that looked like the robber. You think you solved the mystery, but it turns out to be a man running up to his family. Even so, Sammy jumped behind a newspaper (or was it magazine) rack, thinking it was him.

Anonymous said...

I think that red herrings are designed to confuse you by appearing like something other than what they are in the form of "bad" evidence.

As for who Sammy Keyes is, she's something of a mystery herself. Why do all her belongings have to fit in one drawer at her grandmother's? Why doesn't she talk about her parents? She seems pretty curious to me, for someone who seems to have secrets of her own. She even has to sneak out of her grandmother's. Why all the secrecy?
Do you think that the red herring could be the dj, Rockin' Rick? I don't know why they make such a big deal out of him when he doesn't even help advance the story in the mall by helping to find Mikey.