Truly Devious

BY: Maureen Johnson

Bento Box

Items

Mismatched Puzzle Piece

Scissors

Makeup w/ Mirror

Truly Devious

Plant

Mask

REview

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson which was published in 2018 is a mystery novel about a school for gifted children such as the main character Stevie. Truly Devious shows us that the pursuit of the truth comes with a cost. We can see this message in both halves of the story through Albert Ellingham and Stevie Bell.

Albert Ellingham is the founder of Ellingham Academy and lives on the property in Vermont. In 1936 Albert’s wife, Iris, and daughter, Alice, were kidnapped and held for ransom. Albert gives the kidnappers the money but never sees Alice or Iris again. He spends the rest of his life in mourning and searching for his daughter whose body was never found. He rarely left his estate till he died in a boat bombing in 1938.

Stevie Bell is a gifted student who came to Ellingham Academy many years later to try and solve the case but does't really think she belongs . As the school year develops, Hayes Major, an upcoming actor, dies from hypoxia after being stuck in an abandoned tunnel with dry ice. Stevie takes on the case and as she does she loses what little friends she had.

Truly Devious makes you feel as if you are in the story with all the main characters. You get clues and can solve the mystery with Stevie. You get to explore the character's minds and what shapes them and you can try and figure out if they're the culprit. I'd give it a 4.657 out of 5.354.

First Introduction

In the first half of the book Stevie reminds me of mismatched puzzle piece because she thinks she doesn't fit in . She feels as if she is an outcast at the school and that no one likes her and that she's losing her only friend. "I'm not so sure about that," Stevie said as she watched Janelle and Vi. Stevie found herself getting strangely nervous as Janelle and Vi talked, their heads getting a little closer together with each exchange, the laughs a little bigger. A bubble of jealousy rose in her and she clamped it down" (Maureen 120. She is jealous of Janelle who is her closest friend because she doesn't want to lose her. She feels like Janelle is her only friend.

She also feels like there was a mistake in inviting her to Ellingham Academy. She feels like she doesn't belong and other people think that. "Remember, her mother said into her ear, "you can always come home. We'll come up and get you."Her mother's final little squeeze said, This isn't the kind of place you belong. You'll see. You'Il be back" (Maureen 84). She thinks that she is an outcast and isn't smart enough to go to that nice of a school with that smart of people. She has anxiety and depression and has panic attacks about not fitting in. "She wasn't screwed. She was Stevie Bell, and she had gotten into Ellingham Academy on her own. They didn't exactly admit people by mistake. Unless it was a mistake. What if they'd made a mistake? What if they'd made the first mistake they'd ever made? Why had they done this to her?" (129). She doubts her intelligence and abilities and feels forgotten by her friends and classmates.

Theme

There are a variety of themes in Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson but deceit is the most prevalent one. Everyone in this book uses deception to get their way and to get the advantage over the other students. We can go into the characters minds and learn what's going through their head as they lie and deceive.

Such as Stevie trying to figure out if another death at the academy was a murder or just an accident. Stevie uses deception to get an upper hand in her investigation. "I get that," Pix said. "Back soon.” As soon as she was gone, Stevie took the key" (Maureen 359). Stevie lied about wanting to clean out her dead housemate, Hayes', room to her house parent and then took the key and went through all of his possessions to try and help herself in the investigations that she was just guessing on.

Hayes Major uses deception to make money and get publicity. "Weird thing," Stevie said. "Hayes himself told me that he made The End of It All in Florida at the start of last summer. He lied. He made it on June fourth, and Ellingham closed for the summer on the sixth" (Maureen 407). Hayes lied and manipulated other people to write his TV show and gave them no credit or money.

I chose the mask as my object because it is able to hide the characters thoughts and expressions. I also chose this because of the robbers who committed the Ellingham murders who hid their face and murdered Alice and Iris Ellingham wanted to stay hidden and concealed.

Last Impression

Stevie grew a lot throughout the book. I think the most important part is that she started to believe in herself and her intelligence. Stevie starts off the book by being shy and not knowing how many friends she had or if she could gain friends. Stevie wonders if there is even a point in being at the school because she can’t solve a mystery that’s already been solved but she begins to find friends and grow and become a better detective, actually solving mysteries. “She had settled in. This was home, and she had almost completed a major project about the Ellingham case with her friends. Well, Nate was her friend, and probably Hayes and Maris and Dash. Her friend Janelle gave her supplies" (Maureen 196). Stevie starts to believe in herself and that she belongs at Ellingham Academy.

When Hayes died Stevie realizes how close she really has got with her friends. “Stevie put her hand on her friend's head. It was an unfamiliar feeling, this warm head on her shoulder. Janelle just trusting her and leaning on her and Nate reaching out" (Maureen 292). Stevie realizes just how much her friends mean to her and how much she means to them.

After solving Hayes' case, Stevie realizes how much she needs David, her friend, and that they only have each other. “Whatever had happened between David and Stevie didn't exist at this moment. Everything was dew and Larry's instant coffee and the gentle, buttery morning sun" (Maureen 424). Stevie realizes how much she loves the school and David.

I chose the plant as my object because of how much Stevie has grown and established her roots at Ellingham Academy.

Conflict

The main conflict of my book is an internal conflict. Stevie is convinced that she doesn't belong at Ellingham Academy. Stevie overcomes this by trying to find out who Truly Devious is and and who murdered Hayes Major. Stevie trying to find the murderers is what motivates her to stay at Ellingham Academy. She spends time with her friends discussing the murders and even makes a movie about it with her new friends.

Stevie spends all her time on the case instead of thinking of herself. "At the top, she put three photos: Iris Ellingham, Alice Ellingham, and Dottie Epstein. Here were the floor plans of the Great House at the time of the kidnapping. The case board began to take shape as it filled" (Maureen 129). When Stevie is having a panic attack about being at the school, she decides to put a case board together to take up her time and take her mind off things.

Stevie decides that her entire year at Ellingham academy is going to be devoted "My project ... is solving the case." "Solving it?" Charles said, cocking his head. "Doing a report on it?” "No," she said. "I mean ... figuring out what happened." Charles removed his glasses, folded them, and leaned back in his chair. "That's a fairly tall order," he said. "Define that for me.?" I've read all the theories," she said, steadying herself in the chair. "I've read all the transcripts" (Maureen 151).

I chose the makeup mirror because it reflects who Stevie is as she adds layers of makeup to hide her true self to try and fit in. Stevie tries to fit in with everyone else and as she does she slowly changes as a character. The mirror helps her look into herself and realize what she's done and go back to how she was.

The conflict helps establish Stevie as a character and helps her grow and solve the mysteries.

Style

Maureen Johnson's style is like scissors because she cuts into the story at random and has two sides to every story.

Maureen Johnson has two mysteries going on at the same time in Truly Devious. One set in the past and one set in the future. She provides us clues as to what is going on in the story and what the main character, Stevie, already knows. It allows us to be apart of the mystery and try and solve it ourselves. For instance she cuts back in time to tell us about a suspect in the case and the day he went through the day of the kidnapping. "April 14, 1936, 10:00 a.m. LEONARD NAIR HOLMES WAS ACCUSTOMED TO GAPS IN THE CALENDAR, days that simply went away" (Maureen 142). Maureen later reveals that he had been gone for most of the day and wan't really trying to help and track down the kidnappers. This allows us to know another possible suspect in the case.

They also let us know that the guy arrested for the murder wasn't really the one who did it because he was assassinated. "Vorachek was dragged into the courthouse lobby, his shirt thick with blood, blood on his hands, smeared on his face. Leonard Holmes Nair, who was there that day, would later paint the scene, lashing red paint over the small form on the ground"(Maureen 394). This takes us back to when the suspect is murdered by someone who maybe didn't want him talking.

She also provides another suspect with Flora Robinson who is poor but is best friends with Iris Ellingham. Flora dissapears for a long time when Iris gets kidnapped and gives a weird testemony to where she is. "SA: So you let yourself into Mrs.Ellingham's private dressing room with your own key? How long have you had a key?

FR: Oh, I don't know. Some time.

SA: It seems odd to me that you would take the time to go into a locked room to look out of a window.

FR: It may seem odd to you.....but that's what happened (Maureen 266). This gives us another suspect and maybe another motive because she was looking for something in the room.