When you're a kid, reality is a little bit more magical, because you haven't figured a lot of stuff out yet. There's every possibility that there really are monsters under the bed, or that there really were elves and orcs, or that there are still dinosaurs out there somewhere, or any number of other cool fantasy things that as adults, we just don't believe in. Spiral-Bound is like taking a step back into that kid point of view, where secret newspapers use a network of tunnels to get around the city and report on a monster in the lake or other stories that the grown-ups would rather keep hidden. Where a cool summer project is building a submarine out of clay, or trying to figure out whether that monster in the lake really is real, and if so, what is it?
You can tell a lot about Spiral-Bound from a look at the way it is presented. While a boring book in a cool format isn't any less boring, when you've got a great book, it's always nice to see it complemented by great packaging. Renier has given Spiral-Bound the look of one of the spiral-bound notebooks that we used to have as kids, complete with paperclips, a couple of off-kilter price stickers, and the impression of lined paper on the inside. The format immediately drops most adults back to a time when their childlike sensibilities and curiosities ruled, and primes the mind for the ride that is inside.
There's a terrific structure and sense of pacing in Spiral-Bound. It starts off small, with a lonely looking boy (OK, young elephant) eating his sandwich and absent-mindedly playing with his food when another curious boy (OK, dog) comes by to ask what he's doing. From these simple beginnings, we venture into conspiracies (mostly of a benevolent nature), grand schemes (like building a sculpture garden in the forbidden park), mysteries and of course, plenty of character interaction. Renier really captures the dynamics of these young kids, who seem to be a little older than elementary school but not quite teens yet, wrapped up in early crushes that they don't want to admit, friendships that still seem like they'll last forever and relationships with their parents that are developing more equally as time goes on. The fantasy element means that these kids are more independent than most real kids their age, going on all-night news reporting jaunts or engaging in other adventures, but the parents are there, and important figures as well. Basically, while Spiral-Bound is not a true representation of the middle days of childhood, it gets it right in all the important dramatic ways.
Renier's characters and settings feel real despite the unreality that he adds into the book. There's a pleasant mixture of sense of wonder and grounded reality. The characters read as kids, parents and teachers, but they also read as an elephant, a cat, a bird, a dog, a whale, etc. The book wouldn't have worked quite so well had it just been kids, because the animal characteristics are a tipoff that Spiral-Bound does exist in a sort of fantastic world, and also makes it more fun for younger readers who might not be so keen to read about kids but who are very used to the notion of animals who act like kids. In addition, while some of the storylines revolve around everyday stuff like childhood crushes or the difficulties of a relationship with a parent or teacher, the larger story is more fantastic, about a lake monster and the various angles of attack people are coming at to prove, disprove or just interact with the monster. When the monster's true nature is revealed, it makes perfect sense, but Reiner doesn't overly telegraph it, which is nice.
In addition to strong plotting and excellent moment-to-moment writing, Spiral-Bound also has a gentle but remarkably funny sense of humor. The ruse that Ana and Emily engage in to sneak into the clay works, especially the phoney voice that they come up with, is a lot of fun, and indeed all the secrecy and codenames of the underground newspaper are pretty fun, even though Reiner also gets across the cool factor that having secrets has when you're younger. (OK, it's still cool when you're older too... I'd still give just about anything to have cool decoder rings.) There's also some great action and suspense, particularly at the tail end of the book when the reader is worried about what's going to happen to Ms. Skrimshaw or Ana. Because of the nature of Spiral-Bound, the inclination is to think that everything will turn out fine, but then you'll remember that even in Disney movies, sometimes there are real losses, and Renier does a good job of selling that tension and making the reader legitimately wonder if everyone will come out OK or if some will be lost in the name of the lesson.
Then there's Renier's artwork, which is also full of imagination, wonder and plenty of detail. Renier does a convincing hybrid of animal features and human expression, but he doesn't lose what makes these animals "animal" when giving them anthropomorphic features. For example, the giraffe still has a neck that stretches and moves, albeit more in a cartoony way than real giraffes, Ms. Skrimshaw really does have the presence and majesty of a whale and the bluster of Turnip's father is all the more convincing because of his elephantine features. Renier also really pulls out all the stops on the fantasy elements, such as Skrimshaw's imaginative fishbowl conveyance or of course the design for the monster. His panels are also filled with detail without being overly crowded, and there are some splash pages of the party near the end or the underground tram system that are just amazing to look at.
Spiral-Bound has a childlike sense of wonder and a more sophisticated style of storytelling, weaving several characters, plots and mysteries together into a joyous (but not simplistic) romp through imagination. The real world isn't often as interesting as it seemed when we were kids... Spiral-Bound is a look at what it might be like if it were.
