In this book, Alberta author Don Trembath returns to the hero from his first novel, The Tuesday Café. Harper Winslow now writes a column for the school newspaper under the pseudonym Alfred. Protected by his anonymity, he talks amusingly about the activities of his fellow pupils. Things begin to go wrong when Alfred writes about the thug who is dating one of his classmates. The thug takes exception and enlists the school bully to uncover Alfred’s identity.

Harper Winslow is a good character. He is smart and funny and observes those around him with a fresh and ironic eye. Harper tells the story, so there is ample opportunity to become familiar with his views and even to become annoyed at his habit of continually ending statements with “in case you were wondering.” Unfortunately, after the situation is established, the story drifts and there are long passages that don’t advance the action. Harper also does some implausible things to try to throw the bully off the scent and they only show the bully as being smarter than Harper.

In addition, the target audience is a problem. The main characters are all in Grades 10 to 12 and yet the book is written at a much younger level. This may be an attempt to broaden the market, but without a younger hero it runs the risk of turning off the 12-year-old crowd, yet it is not complex or earthy enough to hold the interest of older teens. The story is also sloppy in some details: the thug is 18, yet he is supposed to be five years older than 16-year-old Harper; several weeks suddenly become one week in the following paragraph.

A Fly Named Alfred will appeal to fans of The Tuesday Café who have already been drawn into Harper Winslow’s world. However, it won’t make many new converts and I suspect that some of the old fans will be disappointed.