Cassidy Jones and The Secret Formula: A Guaranteed Winner

Someone stated online that Cassidy Jones rocks.  That assessment is correct.

Cassidy starts out  as a typical (I won’t say ordinary) teenager, with the typical gangs of physical and emotional bullies at school, the same insecurities, the same challenges, and the same little brother, except that this little brother is perhaps more lovable than most.  But what sets Cassidy apart is her character.  She has this stubborn compulsion to do what is right instead of what is easy or popular.

Then — and I can get away with revealing this because it’s already plastered across the Internet — she becomes less typical.  Much less typical, actually, because in Elise Stokes’ Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula, she develops super powers.  Exactly how, I won’t reveal, unless you want to dig into the spoiler below.  Let’s just say that when a leading scientist working on a cure for various diseases suddenly disappears, she teams up with the scientist’s genius son to find out what happened to her.

Naturally, all kinds of adventures start unwinding from there.  It doesn’t matter much what they are, because they are naturally captivating and dangerous.  There are subterfuges and betrayals, but also trust and commitment.  But the absolutely most coolest thing about her is that she doesn’t change.

“Wait!” you say.  “Didn’t you just tell us that she gets super powers?”

Well, yes I did.  She can run five miles without breaking a sweat, jump off second-floor balconies, take out any three ninjas, and heal almost as fast as Wolverine.  But those are just talents, what she can do.  She goes through an adjustment period where she learns not to accidentally break noses, but in the end she remains true to her values and character, who she is.  She never loses sight of herself.

Taking on the terrible responsibility that she does, she always remains the Cassidy Jones that you fell in love with at the beginning.

This is one of those books where we dread the arrival of the last page.  You have shared a wild adventure that was also a lot of fun.  You have shared Cassidy’s trials and hopes from the moment she tries to make it up that rope in Chapter 1 until the last villain is put away.  When at last you close the book you bemoan the loss of Cassidy, her family, and her friends.  There is suddenly a hole in your life.  They have become so real, as if you know them in the flesh.  I know there is a second book, Cassidy Jones and Vulcan’s Gift.  I will read it.  Stokes is working on a third, and that’s where I see a problem.

I don’t want there to be only three.  We don’t want the series to jump the shark, of course, but there is a lot Stokes can do with it before that happens.

If you know any young girls who need a strong female role model (I have two daughters who fit that description) Cassidy Jones is a must-read.

Addendum

When my 10-year-old was, I believe, a nine-year-old, I bought her this book enthusiastically hoping she would get right into it.  I think the number of worlds intimidated her fourth-grade experience, but once she got into the story, she couldn’t quit, and carried the book with her everywhere.  Last week, she wanted to buy some red hair color, using the excuse that she wanted her hair to match mine.  For some reason, she ignored the colors that actually looked like mine, and went for the brighter reds.  She ended up with one that matches Cassidy’s pretty well.  I see I’ve been replaced. (But with a big grin on my face.)