A Complete Story

Should Finn Gunn have a Ghostwriter?

Should the last installment of Finn Gunn be written by a ghostwriter?

by: Random Journalist "A", with help from Pro-write and Anti- write.

It's an age old question, after the creator of a series dies should someone continue their work?

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five months, you probably know Helen Tranker (author of the legendary Finn Gunn YA novels) passed away last March. Her death came as a shock-- many fans thought she would live forever, telling ever more Finn Gunn until the end of time. After an autopsy was conducted to determine how Tranker died (A topic discussed at length Here.) The next big mystery became the final Finn Gunn Book. Would Major Book Publishing CO. honor her legacy and end the series on book nineteen, or would the publishers hire someone else to complete it? To aid in our discussion, I've invited two guest panelists: Pro Ghostwrite and Anti Ghostwrite.

Let's get started! You first anti Ghostwrite.

Anti Ghost Write: To start, let me say that I've been a fan of Finn Gunn ever since I was nine. I state this not in an attempt to gatekeep, but rather to show how long I have loved Finn Gunn. Finn Gunn was how my mother got me into reading, every day after school it was me, her, and Finn Gunn. Her loving narration sparking my mind with images of a hero I saw myself in. We were both awkward and shy, but he was able to solve the most befuddling mysteries. Reading his stories aloud with my mother helped me to build confidence in myself. If someone as bashful as Finn could interrogate a suspect, perhaps I could answer questions when the teacher called on me. Off the bat, Finn Gunn became something very near and dear to my heart. I was overjoyed to learn there were other kids at my school who felt the same way about Finn as I did. Kids who were willing to spend all of recess discussing the merits of their favorite book and why that made it the best in the series. I used to talk at length with these other fourth graders about theories I had for the next book; most of my friends were made this way.

I grew up, went to college, got married-- but I never grew out of Finn Gunn. Cramming for finals always included little breaks to read a chapter from the most recent Finn Gunn. I hid my tattered copies between textbooks, unable to admit I still read them:  but adamantly defending that Finn Gunn was not for children. I even brought a copy on my honeymoon, I don't remember which, just that I read it. 

I loved the stories. The complex and simple ways plots fit together, I loved Finn, I loved Vanesa. I loved the blatant foreshadowing, and the more subtle. I loved figuring out what was going on before Finn did, I loved being totally blindsided.  Re-reads brought forth things I had missed, a subplot involving Macovksy, what was really going on between Mr. and Mrs. Ostlund. Why Finn Gunn lived with his grandma instead of his parents. Things I could not have picked up on as a relatively well adjusted nine year old, but now could.  There was a nuance involved so stealthily in every book, I still argue with people about its existence.

My favorite book is controversial-- Book 7: Finn Gunn and What Happens When Roads are blocked-- a book most readers will freely admit is one of their least favorite. Finn doesn't catch the bad guy, he doesn't solve the mystery. Others call it a 'go nowhere book', but for me, it taught an important lesson: sometimes there are loose ends. Life doesn't get tied up in a pretty pink bow; Finn doesn't solve every case. There's no closure. And not everything in life gets closure.

Similar to book seven, I would rather have no closure to Finn Gunn, than a half-assed attempt to appease fans. A ghostwriter won't be Helen Tranker, and no matter how hard it tries--the book will feel weird. Why am I so certain a ghostwrite will feel weird? Because what is Finn Gunn? Have you ever stopped and tried to definitively categorize Finn Gunn? Can you? Most people would say it's a mystery series for small children, but there is so much more to Finn Gunn (want definitive reasons? See my earlier paragraphs). For me, it's an intro into philosophy, disguised as a mystery novel.  For a friend of mine, Finn Gunn was entertainment. She did not care whether Finn solved the mystery or not, or what the theme of the book was about-- so long as there were bits of humor and a solid plot-- she enjoyed it. Finn Gunn is uniquely defined by every fan-- the product of decades of reflection.