Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy

Gr 5–7—An average 10-year-old would likely pick up this book expecting a "Wimpy Kid" epigone—especially with the playful cover art. What Vaught has given readers instead is a highly didactic, heavy-handed approach to the topics of mental illness, genetics, Common Core, and gun control. This failure is compounded by the format: protagonist Footer's story is told through a combination of journal entries and school essays. Footer's mother, who is bipolar and through the course of the novel confined to a mental hospital, is one of several suspects in the murder of an elderly neighbor and the likely murder of his two grandchildren. Footer is not sure if she witnessed these events or has hallucinated them. At one point, social workers force Footer's dad to get rid of the guns in their house. Dad is less than pleased, believing that "guns don't kill people, people kill people." What mystery there is does not remain so for long.