The Family Hitchcock

Based on a planned film that Levin and Flackett, the husband-and-wife screenwriting team behind Nim's Island and Journey to the Center of the Earth, sold to production company New Regency in 2008, this caper, written by Elish (13), follows the Hitchcock family's tumultuous adventures after they swap houses with a Parisian family, the Vadims. The vacation gets off to a rocky start with seventh grader Maddy bitter about missing her crush's big party, certain that her parents are getting divorced, and butting heads with her mother ("still beautiful at age forty") and her fact-spouting, "boy genius" younger brother, Benji. After the Hitchcocks arrive in France, suspicious characters soon appear, threats loom, and the plot thickens when Maddy reads about a stolen object in Veronique Vadim's diary. The narrative focuses mainly on Maddy and Benji, but also gives insight into their parents' thoughts and motivations as the Hitchcocks use their individual strengths to get back to Chicago alive. Though fairly ordinary, it's an entertaining and high-energy story of mistaken identities and international intrigue. The ample suspense and feisty family dynamics ought to keep readers invested. Ages 9%E2%80%93up. (Sept.)