Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

Frances Hurtado
September 8th, 2015
       This summer I read Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass.  I thought this was a good book overall, but there were many parts that were off-topic and boring. This book is about two best friends, Jeremy and Lizzy.  A month before Jeremy turns thirteen, he receives a box with the words “The Meaning of Life: For Jeremy Fink to open on his 13^th Birthday,” engraved at the top. Jeremy knows it was his father who prepared this box for him.  His dad had died when Jeremy was eight, and this box was important to Jeremy. Determined, Jeremy and Lizzy set off on an adventure to try to find the keys for the complex, locked box. The search includes visiting a locksmith, a flea market, and breaking into an office.  The search gets sidetracked when the two get into a little bit of trouble and have to serve community service.  They think that the community service is a waste of their summer, but little do they know that it was steering them even closer to finding the answer to the meaning of life. 

       As I was reading this book, I realized that the theme of friendship was a common thread through Wendy Mass novels.  The last book I read by Wendy Mass was Leap Day.  This book was about the main characters 16^th birthday and how she spent that day with her friends.  Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life was similar in a way because in the book he spends the days leading up to his birthday with his friend Lizzy at his side the entire book.  Both have good friends surrounding the main character during important moments of their lives.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books with science or anyone who really enjoys philosophy and how different people answer the same question in different ways.