Number Nine Plaza, most often called “The Nine,” is a uniquely dazzling place: “the largest, most famous, and most extraordinary department store in the entire world.” And Zander Olinga is lucky enough to be the grandson of the woman who owns it, Zina Winebee, who is going to look after him for several weeks while his parents are away on a research trip.
But as 11-year-old Zander soon learns in Ben Guterson’s imaginative and entertaining mystery-adventure novel The World-Famous Nine, his arrival coincides with what Grandma Zina considers “a very challenging time for the store.” It’s the 90th anniversary of the disappearance of a special sandstone slab with a mandala on it that, according to legend, would touch off massive devastation if it fell into the wrong hands.
Ben Guterson discusses the Christmas magic of department stores in our interview.
There’s a Ferris wheel atop this 19-story skyscraper, and the interior contains wonders like a monorail, a Tiffany glass ceiling and a real iceberg. Aside from being gobsmacked by the fabulous scope of The Nine, Zander is determined to solve the mysteries rising up from his family’s past and save the store. Natasha Novikov, the 11-year-old daughter of The Nine’s plumber, decides to help him. Currently spending several hours a week swinging high above the building’s restaurants to entertain their patrons, she loves The Nine and knows almost every inch of the place. It also helps that the artistic Zander was already fascinated with mandalas and puzzles, and Natalie knows where odd inscriptions are hidden around the building.
Guterson, known for his Winterhouse Trilogy and The Einsteins of Vista Point, once again makes excellent use of his trademark ability to create puzzles and conjure clues in this innovative tale that pits clever and intrepid preteens against dark forces, dodgy family secrets and dastardly adults. Readers will breathlessly turn the pages as they wonder: Can the duo solve the mysteries of The Nine in time to save it from those who wish it—and them—ill? Impressive illustrations by Kristina Kister capture the wild grandeur of The Nine, and hand-drawn mandalas by Guterson himself add to the book’s uniquely appealing mystique.
