Shirley & Jamila’s Big Fall

The crime solving duo of Shirley Bones and Jamila Waheed are back for a second mystery adventure in this graphic novel follow-up to Shirley and Jamila Save Their Summer. It’s now September, and the friends are beginning their year at a new school. An illustrated prologue, presented mainly as a wordless spread, starts off the story and is jam-packed with plenty of relatable and fun insights about these junior detectives. What a clever way to get the book’s middle school audience back up to speed and to put on their own investigative hats. After all, mysteries are best when the audience is also participating.

While the sleuthing partnership continues to solve low key mysteries, soon other school activities, such as violin lessons, basketball practices, and homework, contend for their time, and they aren’t able to spend as much time together. Jamila, the story’s narrator, also makes new acquaintances on the community basketball team, including a talented basketball point guard named Seena. Since Jamila is Pakistani and Seena is from Afghan, the girls find that they have much in common and strike up a new friendship.

This book’s mystery is introduced as Shirley Bones requests Jamila’s urgent help to solve an important case involving a school bully. In a series of panels, Shirley explains the situation:

Chuck Milton is in Grade Six – Class President, actually, here at our school – and he’s vicious by design. He buys his candy and collectables with the misery of others. He’s very smart – I won’t pretend he hasn’t done something intelligent. If he would put his mind to something good, he’s probably be brilliant. Instead, he buys and sells secrets. Everyone in school knows that if you have dirt on someone else – and Waheed, trust me when I say nothing is off limits – Chuck will buy it from you, chocolate bars, cheat codes, even actual cash – he’ll pay it to whoever has tangible blackmail on someone else…There are bullies and jerks that will trip you and steal your lunch without thinking twice, but it’s a special kind of kid who tortures other kids for the fun of it – while the teachers give him straight A’s.

No one seems to be able to stop this formidable school bully from taking advantage of any gossip or wrongdoings in his greedy quest for power and extortion payments. Even Shirley’s attempts to negotiate reason on behalf of another student named Eva have no effect on Chuck’s ways. That’s when a fed-up Shirley views this case as a personal challenge. She dials up her sleuthing skills to the next level and creates an elaborate plot designed to not only retrieve Eva’s sensitive note but to also put an end once-and-for-all to Chuck’s bullying ways at her school on behalf of her classmates. Shades of Robin Hood!

This time out, Shirley’s approach to solving the case turns out to be more of a sting operation than the tracking down of clues. Having learned about the importance of greater communication with her friend Jamila, Shirley openly shares her plan to bring down Chuck. But Jamila has a strong sense of right and wrong and has a few reservations about this plan and breaking the rules. Dressing up in disguise? Sneaking out of the house late at night without parent permission? An after-hours break-in at Chuck’s home to search for his stash of blackmail evidence? Stealing evidence in order to turn the tables? After a few modifications to the plan, Jamila is persuaded to participate in Shirley’s scheme and is soon caught up in the excitement of bringing down this schoolyard rat.

This sequel is definitely a bit darker than the first graphic novel, and a few aspects of the characters, situations, and the crime-solving solution, itself, don’t quite sit right when it comes to the intended audience. For example, Chuck’s demand of $400 for the return of Eva’s note and his refusal to accept anything less is wildly excessive. Shirley’s plan to deceive Chuck’s sister Grace, break into his house at night, and the use of purchased burglary tools and safecracking skills are all a bit over the top. These aspects detract from the Shirley’s “Sherlock Holmes style” detective skills which have, to this point, been based on keen observation, ingenuity, and intelligence. But then, readers have to ask themselves how far they might also push their personal boundaries to take down a despicable serial blackmailer like Chuck? A dollop of moral integrity has certainly been stirred to the story plot this time.

Of course, despite the whispered plans, maps, and diagrams, there are plenty of unforeseen plot twists and setbacks, with Chuck arriving home early and the girls being forced to hide behind the curtains in his room before they are able to totally retrieve all the evidence. Then there is the unexpected arrival of one of Chuck’s ex-victims who confronts him, cleverly swipes the remaining evidence from his safe and escapes – but not before Shirley and Jamila identify the gutsy intruder as none other than Seena.

Instead of wrapping up the case at this point, the story spends a considerable number of pages focusing on the resolution of this middle school drama. Jamila and Shirley admit to a very surprised Seena that they also broke into Chuck’s place. Seena sketches the backstory of how Chuck blackmailed her for once stealing from a corner store and how he used this information to worm his way into the class president role. There is a low-key message about how Seena faced the consequences of her wrongdoing and earned back her parents’ trust. Together, the three girls come up with a great strategy for safely returning all the blackmail evidence to their fellow students, thereby eliminating Chuck’s power. All the loose ends are wrapped up, including even a brief mention of the bully’s motivation for his actions. Friendship also permeates the storyline as introspective Jamila considers how to maintain a relationship with two very different friends, especially one who is sometimes labelled as weird by others.

Author Gillian Goerz is a Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, collaborator, and has had her artwork published in a number of graphic novel anthologies and Canadian publications. She currently lives in Toronto. Although it is clear that her storytelling is heavily influenced by the Sherlock Holmes series, the novel’s heartfelt dedication also speaks to Goerz’s love of the feisty fictional character Ramona Quimby and acknowledges the inspiration provided by Ramona’s creator, the late award-winning children’s novelist Beverly Clearly.

Overall, Goerz’s colourful, dynamic, and engaging illustrations perfectly support the plot’s twists and turns. She uses an effective cool colour palette for her night scenes and explores a range of creative arrangements in this graphic novel, from full-page spreads, overlapping panels, and pale background sketches to illustrate Shirley’s suggested plan of action. Some fun asides that haven’t really got much to do with the plot are thrown in for good measure, such as explaining different candy types and Jamila’s love of hot sauce. Not sure if these are attempts to connect with middle-schoolers or red herrings thrown into the mystery mix. The conclusion was satisfying and will no doubt have fans excitedly looking forward to more adventures from this crime-solving partnership. Shirley and Jamila’s Big Fall is an entertaining escapade. Let’s all hope that winter is coming soon for the pair!