Meltdown Madness (Looniverse #2) by David Lubar

The characters in this book are not developed well. I think I should have read book one to get the full picture of who is who, but someone checked it out of my library so I tried jumping into the series with book two. Boohoo. This book was a head-scratcher for me. The protagonist, Ed, can't play on the soccer team unless he sells a box of chocolate or wrapping paper. (I've never been at a school that has that requirement to play sports.) When Ed gets outside he realizes it's hot and tells his friend to run the box home, but his magical coin makes the boy run so fast he goes like a rocket, heating the candy to a liquid softness. Ed determines the bars are unsellable and he spends the rest of the story coming up with cockamamie ideas of how to earn enough money to buy the bars.

For a story to work, even with fantasy, there has to be some internal logic to the plot. This tale was missing that logic. First, kids aren't going to be excluded from sports because they can't sell a box of candy. It would have made more sense that the boy was selling candy as a fundraiser to go play soccer in a tournament. The next illogical notion is that Ed couldn't sell lumpy chocolate. I remember buying lumpy melted chocolate from my friends fundraising at school. I was so dang hungry I didn't care if it was melted, just like Ed's brother didn't care when he ate a piece. Even though it is illogical, the imaginative and silly side to the story will appeal to young readers.

As a character Ed doesn't give up and he is creative with his ideas of how to make money. He worries about how he speaks because his magical coin responds to his words in unexpected ways. When his sister is playing with her make-up and hairstyling doll head, he manages to let loose pigs and ponies from using the words, "pig-tails" and "ponytails." Ed doesn't show any internal struggles, but mainly external ones. The resolution and how his friend warmed up the milk was funny. A light-hearted illogical early reader. 

2 Smileys

Fox on Wheels by Edward Marshall

I read this to 2nd graders and they loved the character of Fox. He is annoyed with his younger sister that he has to babysit, has to deal with his fear of heights, and makes a bad choice by racing in the supermarket with his friends. This tied in nicely with the start of the year and talking to students about appropriate places to run and not run. My huge library is prime ground for sprinting youngsters. Fox is a distinct character with high energy, talks back, shows he's annoyed with younger sister while at the same time showing that he cares about her as well. He's mischievous and likeable.

This transitional book has repetition, slang, and plenty of action to keep students engaged. The author has surprising elements that balance well with the predictability of Fox's actions. For instance, when Louise hurts herself Fox feels guilty and gets her anything she wants. She gets more outrageous with her requests and while she asks Fox for things, he replies, "Of course" meaning of course he will get her what she wants. It isn't until her friends show up and she pops out of bed that Fox realizes she is taking advantage of his attention. There is a depth to how the characters act that allowed for some good discussions with students and laughter to-boot.

This is a level three book with greater frequency of compound and complex sentences and the pictures function more as decoration versus explanation. Although the illustrations do help with understanding some sections and words such as when Louise climbs a ladder and falls off while Fox watches TV. The students like the ending that shows Fox being punished by using a push mower and his other friends being punished as well by washing the car and using a push mower. Many students didn't know what a push mower was but they got the idea that it wasn't as fun as skateboarding which is what Fox is trying to do throughout the entire story. The other phrase they didn't understand was "hold your horses" and laughed when I explained it.

The first page of Fox on Wheels draws readers in with Fox wanting to skateboard with his friends and his mom telling him he has to babysit his younger sister. There's nothing like not getting your own way that pulls a reader into a story. I inevitably have someone blurt out, "I have to watch my sister too!" They are sympathetic toward Fox immediately and drawn by the fun of skateboarding. The three chapters are episodic with the action beginning at the start of the chapter and a resolution happening at the end.

Reading Level 1.9
5 out of 5 Smileys

Meet Mammoth

Ogg and Bob are not the brightest cavemen. But they are very funny. They want to catch a woolly mammoth and make him their pet. Their adventure begins when they fall into the trap they have set for the mammoth, escape a saber-tooth tiger, and finally catch the mammoth as a pet through dumb luck. The two learn it is hard work training a mammoth as a pet and requires some responsibility.

Students laughed at the stupidity of these two cartoonish characters who use caveman talk such as  "Me see mammoth" and "Me catch mammoth."  One girl interrupted the story in disgust and said, "They aren't talking with the right grammar!" The humor is slapstick and silly. Some children really like how idiotic these two are and others don't like it as well. I read the book to seven classes using my best cave-speak and had a blast.

The book has three episodic chapters. The two dorks capture the mammoth in the first chapter, train the mammoth in the second chapter, and put the mammoth to bed in the third chapter. There is repetition of words such as headache and clues from the illustrations to go with the text such as when they plug the trunk of the mammoth with a rock. The vocabulary is simple and it is a good text for grades 1 and 2. I sure had fun reading this book out loud.

Reading Level 1.5

:-) :-) :-) :-) 4 Smileys