I made it about halfway through this book, having loved the very cheesy TV movie as a kid. I loved the premise and I also was prepared to read a more simplistic mystery targeted towards kids, but it just all started slowly falling apart for me with one-dimensional characters and the writing style so erratic that it bordered on confusing even for an adult. I did not care about a single character.

Also the ableism in the book was incredibly off putting — I realize this book is old and so using outdated terms and attitudes, but it was just incredibly difficult to stomach.