Total deadpan lunacy.
Can one nerdy teen keep a tuft of fake lip-hair from realizing its dream of world domination?
Seventh grader Lenny Flem Jr. leads a mild-mannered life hanging out with his best friend, Casper, and watching repeats of the now-cancelled Jodie O'Rodeo Showdeo with his parents and sisters (he will never admit that he likes it). Then Casper, whose hippie parents never buy anything unnecessary, gets a wad of cash from his grandmother, and he uses it to purchase a man-about-town suit and the very expensive Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven (a real-hair fake mustache). Soon after, the robberies begin. Billions are stolen by, first, a gang of strolling accordion players and then a bunch of school librarians. Both groups are led by a mysterious, short suited man with a mustache. Then Fako Mustacho, businessman-about-town appears and holds the town of Hairsprinkle in his thrall. Only Lenny and the real Jodie O'Rodeo seem immune from his mesmeric spell, so it's up to them to stop Fako's grab for presidential power! Angleberger severs all ties with sanity in his latest farce for preteens with hilarious results. Narration is shared by Lenny, a nerdy everyman hero, and Jodie, a thinly disguised Hannah Montana. There's plenty of action and goofiness with very little room for explanations. Fans of Angleberger's previous efforts won't be disappointed.
Total deadpan lunacy. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0194-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
More escapades are promised in this improbable but satisfying series starter
A smart kid foils big-time thieves in the nation’s capital—and joins the FBI.
Using a method he invented called the Theory of All Small Things, white seventh-grader Florian Bates solves mysteries by piecing together seemingly trivial clues in this engaging, humorous, but not always logical caper. When Florian easily helps the FBI recover three masterpieces stolen from the National Gallery of Art, the dazzled feds supply him with an alias and train him at Quantico. Collaborating with his African-American best friend, superbright, athletic Margaret, Florian finds that even with TOAST, sleuthing gets dangerous when the pair, working undercover, come up against a European crime syndicate—and another spectacular art heist in the form of a forgery substituted for an iconic Monet. Exciting adventures ensue, and clues accumulate until the culprit is revealed and the genuine painting located. Missteps intrude, though: a few lapses in logic may leave readers puzzled; some clues seem contrived; and a subplot involving Florian’s discovery of the startling identity of adopted Margaret’s biological father falls flat. The solution is also a letdown: the thief is a minor figure, and the means by which the painting was stolen and the forgery set in its place aren’t explained. The real draws here are the two resourceful leads’ solid, realistic friendship, bolstered by snappy dialogue, brisk pacing, and well-crafted ancillary characters—not to mention behind-the-scenes glimpses of the FBI.
More escapades are promised in this improbable but satisfying series starter . (Mystery. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-3630-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t.
Brothers, one neurodivergent, team up to shoot baskets and find a thief.
With the coach spit-bellowing at him to play better or get out, basketball tryouts are such a disaster for 11-year-old Green that he pelts out of the gym—becoming the chief suspect to everyone except his fiercely protective older brother, Cedar, when a valuable ring vanishes from the coach’s office. Used to being misunderstood, Green is less affected by the assumption of his guilt than Cedar, whose violent reactions risk his suspension. Switching narrative duties in alternating first-person chapters, the brothers join forces to search for clues to the real thief—amassing notes, eliminating possibilities (only with reluctance does Green discard Ringwraiths from his exhaustive list of possible perps), and, on the way to an ingenious denouement, discovering several schoolmates and grown-ups who, like Cedar, see Green as his own unique self, not just another “special needs” kid. In an author’s note, King writes that he based his title characters on family members, adding an element of conviction to his portrayals of Green as a smart, unathletic tween with a wry sense of humor and of Cedar’s attachment to him as founded in real affection, not just duty. Ultimately, the author finds positive qualities to accentuate in most of the rest of the cast too, ending on a tide of apologies and fence-mendings. Cedar and Green default to White.
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-261-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
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