Double Identity

Main Characters: Bethany, Aunt Myrlie, Joss, Hillary, Walter, Dalton Van Dyne

Setting: Sanderfield, Illinois

Summary: Bethany was approaching her thirteenth birthday when her parents were acting very weird and ended up dropping her off at an aunts house who she didn't even know existed.  Despite her wishes, her parents left her with her Aunt Myrlie and she grew even more suspicious when she tried calling her parents and their phones had been disconnected.  After people started recognizing her face in town, Bethany starts asking questions about her parents past in Sanderfield.  She learns that her parents had a daughter before she was born, Elizabeth, who died in a tragic car accident when she was 13.  Bethany can't figure out why her parents wouldn't have told her any of this and she only grows more suspicious when her father sends her different birth certificates and 10,000 dollars in the mail.  Recently out of prison, Dalton Van Dyne starts following Bethany and she does some researching with her cousin, Joss, and figures out that he was involved with her father, Walter.  In the end, Van Dyne was following Bethany because he was trying to get to her parents.  Long ago, Van Dyne hired Walter to clone himself, but he ended up going to prison before he could succeed.  Van Dyne was looking for Walter because he desperately wanted to find his clone, but it turns out that Walter used his chance to clone his deceased daughter who turned out to be Bethany instead.  Bethany felt uneasy about being a clone, but in the end she took advice from Joss and decided that she's grateful to be alive and wants to figure out what to do with her life now.

I would use this in upper elementary.  It is a good book that keeps you in suspense most of the book with several possible outcomes to consider.  This is an easy to read book that can introduce students to chapter books.  While easy to read, there are also words that will be challenging to students as well.  I would use this when wanting students to read in groups and discuss what's going on and make predictions after each chapter.  I would also have students record their thoughts in journals.  I would have them answer questions like, "What would you think or do if you found out you were a clone?"

Questions to consider:

• How believable do you find this plot?  Did it matter?
• How might you use this book in your classroom?

Reference:

Haddis, Margaret Peterson. Double Identity. Waterville, Me.: Thorndyke, 2007. Print.