Crunch

Crunch

by Leslie Connor

Dewey Marriss is stuck in the middle of a crunch.

He never guessed that the gas pumps would run dry the same week he promised to manage the family's bicycle-repair business. Suddenly everyone needs a bike. And nobody wants to wait.

Meanwhile, the crunch has stranded Dewey's parents far up north with an empty fuel tank and no way home. It's up to Dewey and his older sister, Lil, to look after their younger siblings and run the bike shop all on their own.

Each day Dewey and his siblings feel their parents' absence more and more. The Marriss Bike Barn is busier than ever. And just when he is starting to feel crunched himself, Dewey discovers that bike parts are missing from the shop. He's sure he knows who's responsible—or does he? Will exposing the thief only make more trouble for Dewey and his siblings? (description from Amazon.com)



I liked this book. It was good...*but* I kind of wish that I had read it before Waiting for Normal. While I liked the characters in this book and I thought the family dynamics were interesting, it just didn't spark for me.  I still have a warm, gooey place that melts in my heart when I think of Waiting for Normal. 

I had a hard time getting into this book. It was a little slow starting.  Once I got into the whole bike shop thing and realized that there was a thief in the mix and the kids don't know what to do, I found myself getting invested, but it took awhile.  I also could not for the life of me figure out when this book was supposed to be set.  It was really vague in that respect. 

Enjoyable, but perhaps not really memorable.