| Title | : | The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0140329803 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780140329803 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 176 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1975 |
| Awards | : | Edgar Award Best Juvenile (1976), Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (1977) |
The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues Reviews
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This is a sophisticated mystery that takes little readers seriously. I read about a trillion Agatha Christies when I was a child, and those are written for grownups but I remember this kids' book being way more emotionally compelling and intellectually layered... though you know, Agatha Christie had much cleverer mysteries and all that, and this isn't at all to malign her, only to say that Ellen Raskin really produced some very unique, brainy, and heartfelt books for children. All her stuff was very special and memorable, and the mysteries always had to do with themes of identity and often involved wordplay. I should reread something of hers. I wrote a book report on this one in the sixth grade so I remember it fairly well, but I'm not sure it was the best of her books, only that I liked it.
There's a moment in here that stuck with me for years and that I still think about pretty frequently, and which almost seemed like a throwaway detail at the time. It was a comment the painter makes about how a good artist doesn't need to paint every leaf to get across the idea of a tree, in response to which his employee Dickory bristles and reflects silently that she drew every brick in the magic marker street scenes she submitted for admission to art school. In a way that's a very simple exchange, but in a way it isn't, and I think it's a good example of how a book for children can get into some themes -- e.g., "Art, and ideas about how to make it/what it should be like" -- in a pretty adult way. -
Just read this aloud to my kids. Probably the tenth time I've read it, myself. I don't know what it is, but the story of Dickory and Garson, two haunted people, distracting themselves with strange police cases and art . . . there's just something about it. I don't think it's as "good," from a technical standpoint, as The Westing Game, but I think it might be my favorite Raskin book.
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I don't quite love this as much as I do
The Westing Game, but it's awfully close. It's a strange hybrid of middle grade and YA fiction, middle grade for the structure and prose, YA for the content (the main character is an older teen in art school, but sounds younger than she is). Dickory Dock (named by parents who presumably loved her) lives in a tenement with her brother and his wife; to earn money to support herself, she takes a job with the slick, carefree artist Garson. Garson's art is facile, but he's hiding secrets, and the story of how those secrets are eventually revealed is told through a series of short mysteries the police ask Garson to help solve.
Dickory and Garson complement each other well, with Dickory's powers of observation growing as she comes up against Garson's penchant for disguising himself, mostly to test her. Garson, in turn, is an intriguing character whose past is tied up with his present.
The story wraps up a little too neatly, another aspect of the middle grade novel, but the charm of the ending makes it clever rather than trite. Raskin is a master of capturing character with a few deft images, and even the secondary characters benefit from this. It's a fast read, and holds up well despite its age. -
The most mature of Ellen Raskin's mysteries (though I'm not sure why I feel this way, maybe because Dickory was much older than me the first time I read it, whereas Turtle, and the Carrillon twins were more peers). This book is beautifully constructed, and I was pleased to be able to share it this time, by reading it out loud to my sister on Christmas.
Ellen was just fantastic at making names count, always, and I can't ever say, "I am Christina Rosetti," without tearing up. This time as I read it through I wondered for the first time if Garson was meant to be gay, but besides the stereotypes, I don't know (lives in Greenwich Village, 'trim' is used to describe him several times, goes to a gym, other things that are spoilers) - the book was written in '75 so who really knows, but it was interesting to read it with that in mind this time.
Still, the names are complex, as she always intends, layers of people, disguises and masks, same as Westing Game, and they're labels for people, same as in Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel) where they're literally MADE UP of their names and labels.
It's been just long enough that I didn't remember the details of the solution to each mystery, so that was fun again, and fresh, and the final mystery tore my heart out. I was happy I got to read it aloud and emote. -
I wanted to check this out since I loved
The Westing Game so much, and the late Raskin only wrote four books (she illustrated several more.) But I found this odd and despite being so slender a read, not engaging. -
UPDATE JUNE 9th 2018 - GUESS WHAT I GOT FOR MY BIRTHDAYEEEE!!
^ ik I use that gif a lot...whatever. It works.
I don't have a whole lot of favorite books so when I say a book is one of my favorites, that means I have a small selection and for some reason this has become one. The Tattooed Potato, however strange the title is, could be one of my all-time favorites. I don't know if it could beat Mara, Daughter of the Nile, but if it can't beat it, it's tied.
This was [almost] as good as The Westing Game, another Ellen Raskin book, and if I were you I would read it as fast as I could (Tattooed Potato, not Westing Game). It's sad but nothing sad happens. It's happy but nothing really happens that would make it that happy. There's something about it that makes you satisfied and leaves you thinking about it for days. It's one of the best books I've read, even though it's confusing and you have to read it twice to really get what it means. Don't be surprised if you read it in a day and come back later to read it over a week! It's an amazing book and I can't think of a single person I wouldn't recommend it to. Really sweet story.
Another reviewer used the word "melancholy" to describe this book. That is one of the best words I've come across for this book. It is, summed up in one word, distinctly and oddly melancholy. For some reason. It's part of why I love it so, so much. -
This book just reminded me again why Ellen Raskin is so amazing. It was light, easy-to-read, yet stayed somehow mature. After reading 'The Westing Game' earlier this year she was boosted to my number one author. 'The Tattooed Potato and other Clues' has solidified her position.
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4.5 stars (rounded down) -- While I did not connect to this 1976 Edgar Award honor book as much as I did to The Westing Game, its story convinced me even more that the world lost a genius when Ellen Raskin passed away. This mystery is creative, surprising, tense, and ultimately heartwarming. The plot revolves around Dickory Dock, a 17-year-old girl who responds to a job posting on her high school's bulletin board. Garston is the man who answers her knock and hires her to work at his home in Greenwich Village in NYC from 3-6 during the week and all day on Saturdays. That first afternoon leads to their solving six mysteries during the course of the novel. They were all quite clever!
Favorite Quote: "Do you understand what I am saying, Dickory Dock? Worry less about your name, and more about who you are and who you want to be, and what Dickory Dock will stand for." -- Garson -
3 (maybe 4? stars)
I wanted to read some more Raskin after rereading The Westing Game. This one was fun, but not quite as good. I don't think I'd have liked it as much even if I had read it for the first time as a child.
As it's a children's book, I figured it'd end with the different episodes and characters coming together neatly at the end and it did. Honestly, I anticipated some of the connections being even stronger.
The tone of this book was a little odd. I didn't know Dickory was 17 until I read the reviews. I guess because of the time period, the things she does independently made me assume college aged. This, among some other small things, give the book a weird mix of old soul child mystery novel vibes. -
I just recently finished Raskin's "The Westing Game", so I can't help but review this book by comparing the two. "The Tattooed Potato and Other Clues" has a smaller cast and a tighter plot; more focused on a single protagonist, an art student who signs up to be an artist's assistant, there's much more focus on backstory and character growth. She learns lessons about observation, deduction, diplomacy, and art as she becomes embroiled in an unusually complex web of deception and disguises. There is a lot here I enjoyed, particularly the playful interaction between the main characters, and the New York references (especially those about unfazeable "native New Yorkers"). However, the impending sense of danger to the characters created an odd mood as I was reading the book, and I feel as though more clues -- particularly visual ones -- might have made the "mysteries", both incidentally and over-arching, more accessible to the reader.
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This is an odd little book, but very clever and tightly written. I confess to being a bit confused at times by the interlacing mysteries, but it mostly comes together at the end. I probably should re-read it when I'm not tired, because I fear I skimmed things that were probably important. Mysteries are like that, I suppose.
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A good book, and very well-crafted. Only a little bit confusing at times, especially in the cases of disguised identities.
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Uniquely clever and entirely unpredictable, this is a mystery that gives satire a run for it's money!
Cleanliness:
Children's Bad Words
Mild Obscenities and Substitutions - 4 Incidents: golly, stupid, shut up
Name Calling - 7 Incidents: brat, Snotty kid, Fat greaseball, punk, idiot,
Religious Profanity - 6 Incidents: egad, What in heaven's name, thank heavens, by gad, gee, heaven help me
Attitudes/Disobedience - 3 Incidents: A girl lied about her salary so she could keep a part of it. This was to be saved so she could move out of her brothers house, as he is not nice. A man lies, saying he knew something, to save face. A man lies about a painting being good to be polite.
Conversation Topics - 9 Incidents: "Dickory resented the intrusions of the ... filthy drunk." She wants to give him a disapproving look but realizes he's asleep. A man is smoking a cigar. A mans says "must have had too much champagne." "Quick find me a pipe. A detective cannot detect without a pipe." Dickory is asked if she's on drugs because she's acting dreamy (she is not). Gambling: A brother lost his hock shop to his bookie. "Whiskey bottles hidden in the prohibition years" are found. "They drank together and together wallowed in shallow profundities." "Schmaltz ran out into the street, in front of a moving truck. He was drunk, but it was no accident. He tried to kill himself, and he did. He killed Frederick Schmaltz. Only a grunting vegetable survived."
Parent Takeaway
As this is a mystery, there are some crimes and lying, but these are, for the most part, done by the bad guys.
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on Etsy! -
I don't think this book was a complete waste of time but I think it would be a waste of time for anyone else to read it. There are the kernels of some good ideas here but overall, it's sloppy and badly plotted and poorly reasoned and incredibly dated and problematic.
I loved The Westing Game as a child and I wanted to ease back into proper mysteries so I picked this book up from the library. It certainly motivated me to try another Agatha Christie but only because this book was such a disappointing reading experience.
To start off with, the overall structure and set up of the book are sloppy. Knowing everything I know now, this is not how I would tell this story if I wanted to make it compelling. At the most basic level, we don't really get to know our protagonist. Her relationships with her brother and Blanche are not clearly established to the point that you would understand her Her passion to be an artist is also poorly established. She was given some art books as a child? She seems like more of an art critic and later a detective. We see what she admires in great art but not who she is as an artist. This could have been a smart use of D'Arches or even Garson but Dickory as an artist is a thread that goes nowhere. Even at the end of the book, I didn't get the sense that The ending of the book, which should tie everything together, just feels incredibly sloppy.
There are small mysteries in the book introduced by Chief Quinn as well as larger questions about the backstories of the main characters and how everything fits together. The reasoning in these smaller puzzles is mixed. Some of the logic is fine. Some of it is highly questionable and the kind of reasoning that only makes sense when you're the author and reverse engineering the clues. I did look up one clue and apparently red pistachios were a thing in the past. My bigger problem is the larger mysteries in the book. There are so many reoccurring red herring characters. You're tempted to think you can figure out who Garson is or what he wants but it's impossible until at least halfway through the book. And once you do know the truth, it all barely hangs together. The mysteries in Dickory's backstory don't quite come together either. This story is just full of useless details that could have had meaning, but didn't.
So let's get into it and talk about the problematic parts. This book finds fat people repulsive. Manny Mallomar's villainy and cruelty are inextricably linked to his fatness. In fact, the author might be more disgusted at the idea of a fat body than Manny's behavior. There's another character, a deaf mute, who is initially horrifying to the protagonist because of his physical disfigurement. It's sort of a teachable moment to see past outer appearances but just barely. I haven't resolved my feelings about whether I think the portrayal of this character was just patronizing and simplistic or actually offensive. The mystery of the hairdresser was not quite transphobic or sexist but definitely skirted the line. There were also just bad clues. Also, this book is very inappropriate for children. It's written at a child's reading level but it's more like reading The Goldfinch. The 17-year-old protagonist is exposed to so much danger and physical violence without responsible adult supervision. It was very triggering. In a more adult book, it wouldn't have been surprising if she'd been raped. The tone of the danger and menace in this book was completely off for a children's book. -
I read this book as a child, loved it, and promptly forgot about it, as children do. Then, about a week ago, I got a text message from my sister that was something along the lines of "Do you remember a book we read as kids that was something abouta girl named Hickory Dock? And there's a van gogh painting involved somehow?" And light begins to dawn... "Oh, that's right! And something about a potato?" After much google searching of "YA mystery hickory dock van gogh potato" I FOUND IT. And of course I had to reread it. And it was just as excellent as I remembered. Though, in fact, Van Gogh is never actually mentioned, but art is involved.
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This book is a very strange beast. It's got a sort of mad genius (compared to, say, The Westing Game, which has a sort of restrained genius) and it careens wildly through details, dropping clues which end up fitting together too neatly and ridiculously - that prison scene at the end, for example, and the names of the police officers.
That said, there's a sprightliness in the madness that keeps the book feeling very alive, and there's also a running commentary on art - and art schools - that zings, even if the protagonist feels entirely too young to be in art school and too naive to be seventeen. -
I love Raskin’s work, so it pains me to say this is not quite on par with the best of her work (The Westing Game) or the less-perfect but still superfun (Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)). The setup was, even for Raskin’s whimsy, a convoluted one, and it just got more confusing as it went on, plus the darkness that gives her books such weight and makes the characters so empathetic is, in this distance, nasty and overdone. Still one of my favorite writers, just not one of my favorite stories.
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Another fun, slightly melancholy puzzle-mystery by Raskin. The part that has always stuck with me is when Garson trains Dickory to identify in all his studio guests the one characteristic they cannot conceal, that will always signal their true identity. I think I was a little too young for the complexity of this book when I read it (a hundred times), and would like to revisit it again. Hopefully my old copy is somewhere safe, as the book is now, sadly, out of print.
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Don't let the Young Adult category dissuade you from enjoying this gem. The second YA book to make it to my Top Ten of all time list. The ending is both heartwarming and thought provoking. The reader is drawn into considering how human reaction to an artist's interpretation of a person in a portrait can lead to unintended consequences - tragic and hopeful.
The language and dialogue is playful, witty, clever and just plain old laugh-out-loud funny. -
One of my favorite kid books to reread. It's another puzzle/mystery which deals with the way the world is (not always happy along the way, but happy in the end) on a kid level but not stupidly. It will surprise you and make you smile (over the top at points), but then, sometimes that's a nice change.
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http://oyceter.livejournal.com/189392... -
It's not THE WESTING GAME, but what is? Still wonderful. Makes me wish I was eleven years old again, reading this for the first time.
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I tried to enjoy this. 20 something pages in and I didn't feel much love for the book. It was a whole bunch of mysterious stuff. Couldn't quite hold my attention. And it was just weird.
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I remembered how much I loved Ellen Raskin books years ago, and decided to read one I'd never read before. Silly and fun.
