👍🤷‍♂️ The Ginghams (2026)

T.C. Kemper

4Rbooks                                            4/6                              grades         6-8

Amazon                                              4.4/5                           Reading age  8-12

Goodreads                                       4.1/5

Common Sense Media               not yet reviewed

227 pages

Synopsis

            Joni, Tyler, and May are the best of friends. Joni is an artist, Tyler is an actor, and May is a drummer. Every summer they go to a camp for artistic children, Camp Rebel Arts, but this year, May wasn’t able to go.  She had broken her arm in a biking accident. Joni and Tyler have missed her and are anxiously waiting to see her again.

            When their bus returns to town, they are surprised to find that May has changed. She doesn’t seem to be as unique and rebellious as she was. She has a new friend, Charlotte Ann Gingham.  The Ginghams seem like the perfect family, maybe too perfect think Joni and Tyler.

            The Ginghams start inviting everyone to their homes for a book club. Joni and Tyler begin to realize that people start to change soon after they attend, including Joni’s parents. As more and more of the town starts to change under the Ginghams control, they realize that something must be done. With a surprising co-conspirator in Charlotte Ann, the children work together discover the problem, the deception, and hopefully a solution.

Parental Guidelines:    medium-high

Mr. Gingham is an evil scientist who is using his wife’s research and his knowledge of technology to control people. He has a vision for what he thinks a perfect world should be and is mind-controlling the town of Olive Springs to produce his version of utopia.

He started using this technology on his wife and daughter, first. His plans are to control the town, than the state, and later the nation.

He has no problem using violence to get what he desires.

It is never specifically stated that Tyler is gay, but there are enough clues that it becomes obvious. He wears make-up, feminine accessories, and shares similar interests, including crushes, to a gay character in their favorite stories.

To solve the question of what has happened in the town, Joni and Tyler spy, steal, and trespass. In the end, with the help of Mrs. Gingham, the house and computer lab is destroyed and burned down.

Recommendation

            As I was reading this book, I couldn’t help but think of the movie The Stepford Wives (1975, 2004) and apparently that was part of the inspiration for this story.  Like those movies (and the book they were based on) this is an eerie and disturbing read. As an adult I found it compelling and I wanted to get to the end to find out what was behind the mind-control and how it was being accomplished. I think middle school students will also enjoy reading this novel, but there are scary and tension-filled moments throughout.

            Having said that, there are some aspects of the story that I think parents should know. The author makes it clear in her acknowledgements that she is part of a group that is against book bans. I’m against governmental book bans regarding publishing, but I don’t have a problem with schools and libraries choosing which books to include and which ones to deem inappropriate. So, of course, one of the scenes saw Mr. Gingham’s henchmen cleaning out the library of most of their books.

            It is also evident that one of the themes of the book is being true to yourself and appreciating individuality. Again, no problem with that sentiment, but the style with which the Ginghams push for uniformity and conformity makes you wonder if there was a societal and/or political bias at play.