“HAS ANYONE SEEN JESSICA JENKINS?” by Liz Kessler, Candlewick Press, Feb. 24, 2015, Hardcover, $15.99 (ages 8-12)
If you could have a super power, what would it be? What if you couldn’t choose? What if you were sitting in geography class and just started to disappear? That’s what happens to the main character in Liz Kessler’s “Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?”
Jessica is perfectly ordinary until that fateful day when her elbow vanishes. Jessica wouldn’t even know that the event happened if not for her best friend, Izzy. It’s Izzy who pushes Jessica to investigate her newfound powers more, and with Izzy’s help, Jessica is soon able to disappear at will.
At first, Jessica’s ability is fun. Playing tricks on kids at the mall and spying on people are fun adventures, but that changes when the duo learns Jessica may not be only one with super powers. Not only that, but there’s someone who wants to harness those powers for his own use. Jessica brings the other super kids together just in time for one of them to get kidnapped. Together, the team must join skills to save their friend and keep their powers secret.
“Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?” is one of those books that’s fun to read once but not repeatedly. The characters are interesting but not overly complicated or multifaceted. And the idea of teens developing super powers has been explored multiple times. Though how those powers come about is different, a bunch of sciency stuff gets in the way. And while the kids (and readers) are told it’s too complicated for them to understand, I find that a convenient way of explaining away a key component to the story. While I ultimately found myself wishing for more, I did enjoy “Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins?” It could have been better, but it also could have been a lot worse.
