The Bookworm: The Mind Reader

The Mind Reader, by R.L. Stine. 148 pages. Pocket Books. November 1994.

Crazy. Maybe I am crazy, Ellie thought unhappily. What else do you call someone who has visions? Visions that were almost always true? (p. 7)

Just in time for Halloween, I finished The Mind Reader.

The Minder Reader tells the story of Ellie Anderson, who has moved back to Shadyside, her birthplace, after a 14-year absence. She befriends Sarah Wilkinson, the daughter of a Shadyside police detective, and has a vision that leads her to the body of Sarah’s missing sister, Melinda. Ellie’s visions continue, helping her and Sarah piece together the puzzle of Melinda’s murder.

Puzzle is a good word to describe The Mind Reader. Though it’s short and mostly uneventful—it is not the most exciting Fear Street book—it is hard to figure out, especially since multiple elements are in the air. Stine employs the usual misdirection, like a reverse in football, to confuse readers, and he follows a big tease with a huge twist. Though neither are all that surprising, I feel that it is one or two more turns than Stine usually takes. To stick with the football analogy, The Mind Reader is a double reverse punctuated by a halfback pass to the quarterback.

However, a lot is left dangling at the end—loose ends that annoy the crap out of me. The meaning and importance of the decisive element in solving Melinda’s murder is left unclear; I have no clue why it is so important or revealing. Why is it tied to one character and how the hell can another character know about it when he wasn’t even there? Again, I’m expecting way too much from these books, but it is, I will admit, what makes them so enjoyable to read. The story holes may annoy me, but there is pleasure in identifying them.

Here’s another story hole, or at least an element that did not jell: Ellie is not a mind reader. She has visions, which she describes as dreams when she is awake (they’re more like hallucinations, IMHO), but does not read peoples’ minds, which means the title is misleading.

Here are some itemized thoughts about The Mind Reader:

• One character drives a Geo. It does not specify what model, though; it is described only as a Geo. It’s easy to forget about Geo, but I do see quite a few on the road still, especially Metros and Prizms. I see a Tracker every now and then. Back in the early nineties, I thought the Geo Tracker and Suzuki Sidekick were the coolest cars.

• The story takes place in October, so the book pairs well with the current month and season.

• To describe the scene when Ellie leads police to Melinda’s grave in the woods, Stine uses this line: “A soft, steady breeze carried the heavy smell of autumn.” What is the “heavy smell of autumn”? Decaying leaves?

• Ellie works at the public library and uses a microfiche in one scene. Microfiche!

• Here’s another annoying and unrealistic/sexist/stereotypical hallmark of the Fear Street series: the female protagonist always falls for the creepy guy because he’s cute. It happens again in The Mind Reader. When a creepy college-aged guy starts hanging around Ellie, she becomes interested because she thinks he’s cute. Ugh!

• When Ellie visits the Fear Street woods with the aforementioned college-aged creepy guy—which is weird on a couple levels—“[b]irds chirped as if it were spring” (p. 73). Wait a minute—I thought birds stay away from the Fear Street woods. This is definitely a continuity issue.

• The college-aged creepy guy wears a Cubs hat. Sweet!