Tag: 3 stars

Stink #11: Hamlet and Cheese – Megan McDonald

Illustrations – Peter H. Reynolds

It’s spring break and Stink joins Sophie of the Elves at Shakespeare Camp. Webster is in Mexico for spring break and with the promise of learning swordplay and Shakespeare type insults (Maggot pie!), Stink is convinced that being a Shakespeare Sprite will be fun. Except Sophie of the Elves neglects to mention two important points about camp:

  1. Stink will be the only boy at camp 😳
  2. One particular girl, Riley Rottenberger, will also be there. 🤮

While Riley is sometimes a friend and sometimes an enemy, she’s certainly annoying Stink in this book as she spends most of the camp trying to smooch, follow and otherwise harass him. Usually I find Riley an amusing annoyance in Stink stories but in this one there was no amusement, only annoyance.

Call me oversensitive if you like but if this was a book aimed at teens Riley’s behaviour would be in sexual harassment territory so I’m not so sure I liked it being made a joke of in this book. I pondered this while reading and I still enjoyed the book but this behaviour didn’t sit right with me.

I hadn’t realised the impact of the interplay between the three main characters until this book where Webster is absent. While it was still entertaining I did miss the banter between Stink, Webster and Sophie of the Elves. Without Webster there to add his personality to the mix some of the charm of my favourite Stink books, like Stink and the Midnight Zombie Walk and Stink and the Shark Sleepover, was missing.

I don’t know how young readers will manage with the thee, thy and thou language along with the rest of the Shakespeare-speak. It’s a good introduction to some of the themes and stories of the Bard but that language can be intimidating when you first come across it.

I would have loved to have known the contents of Riley’s letter, although to be fair I read an ARC sans illustrations and it’s possible the letter’s contents may be shown in one of the illustrations.

I was disappointed I didn’t get to see the illustrations while I was reading but based on having already read most of both the Stink and Judy Moody series I know Peter H. Reynolds will come through in this book too. His illustrations are always spot on in both series, bringing the characters and scenes to life in a humourous way. I will make a point of borrowing this book from my library once it’s released to fill in the pieces that my imagination has missed or gotten wrong.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Hie thee to Shakespeare camp with Stink to learn fake sword-fighting, spout silly curses, and prithee try to escape a kiss . . . BLUCK!

It’s spring break, and Stink is faced with a difficult choice: hang out at home with his sister, Judy, or become a Shakespeare Sprite with his friend Sophie of the Elves. Hanged be! When Sophie tells Stink that there will be swordplay and cursing at Shakespeare camp, his choice is made. But wait! How now? The eager young thespian hadn’t counted on Riley Rottenberger being a Sprite, too. And he positively had not counted on being the only boy! Fie upon’t!

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Far Out Fairy Tales: Hansel & Gretel & Zombies – Benjamin Harper

Illustrations – Fernando Cano

🧟‍♀️ 🧠 BRRAAINS! 🧠 🧟‍♂️

Hansel and Gretel are The Walking Dead in Hansel & Gretel & Zombies. Along with their parents who have dead boring (sorry!) names of Mr Undead and Mrs Undead, Hansel and Gretel are protein deficient. Their corner of the Magical Forest doesn’t attract many brains these days and in a broken lightbulb moment Momma zombie comes up with a plan – to disguise her undead children as not dead children to trick tourists into helping them find their way home to the cemetery for dinner, Hannibal Lector style.

All dressed up with Gretel’s gaping hole in her skull covered with a bonnet and Hansel’s missing eye still glowing an eerie fluorescent yellow-green, our undead kidlets wander off and wind up at Ms Witch’s newly renovated cottage. The children prove their zombieness (I can make up words. It’s my review! 😜) by their abhorrence of all things sugar. A battle of wits ensues.

Fernando Cano’s illustrations are suitably entertaining. I loved the old cemetery.

My favourite panels show Gretel trying to form an idea. I won’t spoil what it looks like but I’m still amused. On the attention to detail side of things only Mrs Undead’s stitched mouth lines are consistent throughout. All of the other zombies have mouth stitches on some panels but not others.

The storyline was okay but not overly captivating. The twist at the end was a let down for me. Overall I prefer the original fairy tale, which is more far out than this Far Out Fairy Tales version.

So, it’s now time to beg my library to buy the rest of this series! 😃

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The Undead Family is out of brains to eat! Tourists have stopped visiting their home – a graveyard – for some time now, and the family of zombies is starving. So they venture into the Magical Forest, disguised as tourists, hoping to lure humans to an early grave! Unfortunately, an evil witch has other plans for the crepescular kiddies and sets up her own tourist trap …

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Far Out Fairy Tales: Goldilocks and the Three Vampires – Laurie S. Sutton

Illustrations – C.S. Jennings

It was Snow White and the Seven Robots that started my Far Out Fairy Tales obsession. I’ve now got in my hot little hands all of the other graphic novels in this series that my library currently own (until I beg them to buy the rest). Because of my love of the Snow White retelling I was excited to see what strangeness and wonder Goldilocks would offer.

Comparing this book to the Snow White one I was disappointed. It’s still entertaining and I know I shouldn’t compare but I was glad I found Snow White first because I doubt Goldilocks and the Three Vampires would have ignited a new obsession.

The three vampires didn’t make me want to sink my teeth (sorry!) into the story as their personalities were about as dead as they were. Goldilocks was more interesting and thankfully she was smart but she was a bit too much of a know it all to make me warm to her. I kind of wanted to vampires, or at least the spiders, to triumph in the end.

The story itself was fun. Goldilocks is on an Indiana Jones style adventure with her very own flying arrow death trap to navigate along the way. Goldilocks is a crypt cracker and the National Museum has sent her to study a tomb rumoured to have treasures hidden by King Arthur inside. She has to use her smarts and some gymnastic ability to survive three death traps before stumbling upon the homes of three vampires.

I loved C.S. Jennings’ illustrations, particularly the various expressions of the vampires and the massive spiders.

The glossary and questions about the story are great extras at the end. The section at the end outlining the main differences between the original story and this Far Out version are very helpful. I hadn’t actually picked up on the three traps correlating to the original Goldilocks trying out the porridge, chairs and beds.

While there wasn’t anything specifically wrong with this graphic novel, with vampires 🧛‍♀️ 🧛‍♂️ 🧛‍♂️ , spiders 🕷 and an archaeological expedition, I was looking for a wow factor that I didn’t find.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Goldilocks is an explorer extraordinaire. Curious and fearless, Goldi searches the world for hidden artifacts and forgotten treasures of ancient civilisations. When her travels bring her to a creepy crypt, she discovers more than just dusty relics in the shadowy chambers … She’s stumbled into the home of one, two, THREE blood-sucking vampires! Can Goldi use her smarts to navigate the tomb’s tricky traps and defeat the vampire trio, or is this her last archeological adventure?

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The Woman in the Window – A.J. Finn

By now you will no doubt have either read The Woman in the Window or have heard so much about it that a replay of the blurb will be redundant and highly irritating. For the minority who have been happily living in a bubble, the basics of this book are:

🤷🏻‍♀️ Unreliable main character
🍷 Alcoholism of the ‘why haven’t you died from alcohol poisoning yet?’ variety
💊 Pills, so many different types
💤 Alcohol and drug fuelled sleep
🔪 Murder mystery, AKA, the mystery of whether there was a murder
🚶🏽‍♀️ So 🚶🏻‍♂️ much 🏃🏿‍♀️ people 🕺🏽 watching 📷
📺 Oodles of black and white movie references.

I’m really conflicted about what to put in this review as I don’t want to wander too deep into spoiler territory. I’m also really confused about how I feel about this book, probably because there were so many elements that I simultaneously loved and hated. So, I think the way this is going to work is to outline my loves, my frustrations and then sum up with some random thoughts.

The Woohoo Bits

The Writing
With such beautiful sentences that I had to read to someone, I enjoyed the writing style and am keen to read the author’s next novel. Here are just some of my favourite visuals and lovely sentences as examples:

“now shame live-wires through my body.”

“It takes an ice age, the words thawing in my mouth before I can spit them out.”

“I feel as though I’m falling through my own mind.”

“My shadow stretches along the carpet, as though trying to detach itself from me.”

“My head was once a filing cabinet. Now it’s a flurry of papers, floating on a draft.”

In keeping with the bazillion movie references there is a cinematic quality about this book and I feel like it was written with a movie deal in mind. I am interested in seeing how the introspective nature of the main character translates to film. I’m sure I’ll watch the movie, if only to compare it to the book. I hope the movie Anna isn’t a stick figure as the book one is overweight.

The Exploration of Mental Health
I loved that there were multiple mental health conditions portrayed in this book and that they weren’t glossed over. It wasn’t implied that you can flick a magical switch and all of a sudden become the poster child for mental health overnight. The struggles were gritty and the judgemental attitudes towards those with mental health conditions were unfortunately realistic.

The Meh Moments

The Red Herrings
Are they truly red herrings if the reader can tell that’s what they are, or are they merely sunburnt?

The Predictability
It does take some of the thrill out of a thriller if you expect what happens in the thrill parts to happen before they happen. I’m one of those people that can’t even predict what they’re having for dinner that night yet I nailed most of the ‘surprises’ well before they happened, and that’s really kinda sad.

The Obvious [insert dramatic scene here] Moments
The internet just so happens to load slowly one time in the book [insert dramatic scene here]. It was a dark and stormy night [insert dramatic scene here as well].

All of the Black and White Movie References
… which just so happened to coincide with what’s happening in the story at the time. If you’re a black and white movie buff the multitude of references will have you reliving the described scenes in your mind as you read and you’ll most likely want to revisit some of your favourites after you finish reading.

If you’re like me you’re only vaguely familiar with a few of the titles in the main character’s personal movie library. Therefore you’re likely to have meaningful moments and possibly (I don’t know because I haven’t seen most of the movies) foreshadowing of things to come fly right over your head and you won’t even look up at the buzzing sound so you’ll miss them entirely.

The Many Moments Where the Characters are Just Clueless
Sorry, Anna, but there were so many times the answer was right in front of your face but you couldn’t see it for looking. I know you’ve killed a gazillion brain cells since you’ve been home bound but surely you can’t miss all of the clues.

Also, Dr Fielding, I’m assuming you’re the one writing the prescriptions here. Aren’t you just the teensiest bit suspicious about how many medications you’re prescribing and the quantity of each? These medications are scrutinised by physicians, now more than ever.

Where Unhelpful Stereotypes are Reinforced
There is so much media hype these days surrounding prescription medication addiction and the portrayal of the main character buys into all of the negative stereotypes. I’m not denying that there are people who abuse prescription medication and become addicted. There’s no doubt that this can and does happen.

What really angers me as someone with chronic pain is that the stereotypes and the media hype, while making it more difficult for people to abuse medications also makes it that much harder for someone who legitimately needs these to function to get them. I know a lot of legitimate pain patients and we’re not taking medication to get high. It helps us do things that most people take for granted, like not having to choose whether you’ll eat that day or have a shower.

Is Anyone Going to Pay Attention to the Needs of the Cat?
This made my blood boil! 🤬

The Random

I Expect This Book to be a Popular Book Club Selection
I’d say that you should play a drinking game with your book club buddies and take a drink each time the main character does, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t survive do let’s scrap that idea. Perhaps you could have a raffle where you guess how many times she has a drink and the person whose guess is closest to the real number wins a book store gift voucher or something else appropriately bookish.

The Unfulfilled Easter Egg Potential
There’s an email address listed in the book and I had hoped for a sneaky marketing Easter egg in the form of an automated reply relevant to what’s happening during that part of the book. Sadly my cool marketing idea has not been implemented. 😢 Just know that if I ever write a book, there will be Easter eggs.

In Summary

It confuses me no end how I can love the writing style, find sentences so beautiful I have to read them to someone, yet be bored at the same time. Because I accidentally figured out most of the ‘aha!’ moments they turned into ‘uh huh’ ones. To quote Anna:

“I feel as though I’m at a movie and the film is over and the lights are up and everyone’s filed out of the theater and I’m still sitting there, trying to work out what happened.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Anna Fox lives alone – a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times … and spying on her neighbours.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble – and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one – and nothing – is what it seems.

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Rapture – Matt Kindt

Illustrations – CAFU

The artwork in Rapture is brilliant! The people, creatures and landscapes really come alive. Not realising there are a swath of comics related to the characters in the Valiant world, I came into this one completely unprepared, basing my interest solely on the cover image.

I was thankful for the page that gave a bit of a heads up on who’s who in the zoo but knowing nothing else about the characters or the world I felt I missed out on a lot. The story was interesting, there’s plenty of action and the illustrations were incredible, but I didn’t connect to any of the characters so I wouldn’t recommend coming into this world via this graphic novel. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Valiant Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

On a scarred landscape, two otherworldly armies prepare to battle one last time, vying for control of a massive tower named from an ancient language no longer permitted to be spoken. One army is led by a primeval force named Babel, whose goal is singular: to breach “Heaven” no matter the cost. The only thing standing in his way is a gray-haired barbaric warrior, filled with rage and regret, a man who sees this battle as his last chance for redemption. But he knows his depleted forces have little chance of victory unless aid comes.

Enter Tama: A 12-year old girl on the crest of a hill overlooking the battle, who has just become humanity’s only hope. The last in an ancient line of mystics who protect the Earth, she has foreseen this battle and knows millions will perish if she’s unable to stop it. Now Tama and her ragtag team of malcontents – Ninjak, Shadowman and Punk Mambo – must somehow defeat an elder god hell bent on piercing the heavens. New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (X-O Manowar) and artistic sensation CAFU (Rai) lead a Tolkien-esque journey into the space between life and death … through the Deadside … and into the many worlds that lie beyond right here with a spellbinding and horrific standalone volume! Collecting RAPTURE #1-4.

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Quark’s Academy – Catherine Pelosi

Augustine, Celeste and Oscar have all been accepted to spend a week at the prestigious Quark Academy during the summer holidays. During this week they will be taught by Inventors and work on their own invention. On the final day the children will present their completed invention during a nationally televised Best Invention Competition.

Augustine, whose parents are both scientists, is interested in the weather. Celeste’s interest is in black holes and she has unfinished business with another competitor. Oscar loves science, in particular chemistry, and wants nothing more than for his parents to notice him like they do with his ‘golden child’ big brother, Toby.

The students soon learn that there’s more to Quark Academy than meets the eye and they’re going to have to use their combined skills to solve the mystery and return home at the end of the week.

I loved the ideas during the first half, in particular the extracting DNA from two animals, people or plants with the view to cross-modifying them. The different responses by the various students to the task was really interesting as it gave insight into their personalities. I also appreciated the ethical issues raised surrounding science and inventions – just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should.

Unfortunately I found the second half of the book, when all of the action was happening and the unravelling of the mystery, somewhat disappointing. I found myself wanting more quirky science ideas and I wanted to see more of the students working on their inventions. I didn’t have any emotional connection to the characters, the final third felt a little disjointed and the end wrapped up too quickly and neatly for my liking.

Overall this book had potential and I expect the target audience (8 to 12 year olds) will enjoy the fun and the mystery, but as an adult reader that reads a lot of novels aimed at children I wanted more focus on relationship between the students, in particular the other twelve students who for the most part have no role in the book.

I had trouble stopping myself from comparing this book to Jackie Yeager’s Spin the Golden Light Bulb, which I read a few weeks ago and adored. Perhaps if I had read Quark’s Academy first I would have enjoyed it more.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Hachette Childrens Books, Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

SCIENCE IN PROGRESS – ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Junior science geniuses Augustine, Celeste and Oscar can’t believe their luck when they’re accepted into an elite and mysterious science academy summer camp run by the elusive Inventor Quark.

From the moment they step inside the gates of Quark’s Academy at the end of Molecule Drive, they know they’re in for a week they’ll never forget. But things at the academy are not quite what they seem, and the three quickly realise that they’ll need to put their squabbles aside and their heads together if they’re ever to get out of there alive …

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Little People, Big Dreams #10: Ada Lovelace – Mª Isabel Sánchez Vegara

Illustrations – Zafouko Yamamoto

Whatever device you’re reading this review on, you have Ada Lovelace to thank for it. The child of poet Lord Byron and Lady Byron, Ada had big dreams. Although her mother tried to dissuade Ada from her passion of inventing and replace it with her own love of mathematics and logic, Ada was able to combine her mathematical talent with her dream.

She was introduced to Charles Babbage who was working on a machine that could solve maths equations quicker than people could. Ada thought she could make the machine do even more impressive things and so she worked on a code that would tell machines what to do, a code we still use today.

To say Ada was a visionary is an understatement. She became the world’s first computer programmer a century before computers were even invented!

Despite obstacles including illness and simply being a woman in the 1800’s, Ada proved that with determination and hard work, she could achieve greatness in her field. She was so ahead of her time that her work went largely unnoticed and unappreciated during her life, yet her contributions are vital to our everyday lives over 150 years after her death.

If Ada has something to teach us besides girl power, it’s that you should follow your dreams and not allow anyone to squish them.

This is only the second book I’ve read in the Little People, Big Dreams series. There’s enough information in them for kids to learn about the basics of the person they’re reading about’s life and their contributions to our society but not so much that they’re bogged down with dates and boring bits.

The illustrations are interesting and have a childlike quality to them but I would have preferred there to be more bright colours and for the peoples’ faces to be more expressive.

While I would have used books like this one for school projects, it wouldn’t have been the type of book I would have chosen at the library to read for fun. I was all about Roald Dahl with his wacky and whimsy worlds and cared little for non fiction, but that’s just me. I definitely appreciate this type of book now and can see how it would have inspired me to want to follow my dreams had I read it as a child.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Meet Ada Lovelace, the British mathematician and daughter of poet Lord Byron. Part of the beloved Little People, Big Dreams series, this inspiring and informative little biography follows the colorful life of Lord Byron’s daughter, from her early love of logic, to her plans for the world’s first computer program. 

As a child, Ada had a big imagination and a talent for mathematics. She grew up in a noble household in England, where she dedicated herself to studying. Her work with the famous inventor, Charles Babbage, on a very early kind of computer made her the world’s first computer programmer. This moving book features stylish and quirky illustrations and extra facts at the back, including a biographical timeline with historical images and a detailed profile of the mathematician’s life.

Little People, Big Dreams is a best-selling series of books and educational games that explore the lives of outstanding people, from designers and artists to scientists and activists. All of them achieved incredible things, yet each began life as a child with a dream.

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Keep Her Safe – Richard Parker

When Maggie discovers an intruder in her home late one night, she knows she has to do everything she can to protect her daughter, Penny. Maggie knows why the intruder is there because four nights ago Maggie was in the intruder’s position. Someone who calls themselves Babysitter is threatening single mothers and giving them until dawn to comply with their instructions or face never seeing their child again.

Facing the question of what lengths a mother would go to in order to protect their child pretty much opens the playing field, and as a result Keep Her Safe is an action packed book. It’s practically one action scene followed by another, with little respite in between. So why could I put it down?

Part of the reason was that because there was so much action there wasn’t a great deal of time spent on character development. After finishing the book I feel that while I know a few facts about Maggie and the intruder I don’t know them. There was never a point where I expended any emotional energy connecting to either of the women and so I found myself quite detached from the outcome.

Somewhat James Patterson-esque in that the chapters were very short and oftentimes ended on a mini-cliffhanger, I had expected to be faced with working out which of the two main characters I sided with, especially as there were chapters focusing on each point of view. However I would have been equally fine with either or both women dying and found that entirely unexpected. I found it difficult to distinguish between the characters’ voices because they all seemed to sound the same.

It felt to me that this book was made up of three sections and I had different thoughts during each:

  • Home Alone (or am I?) – This first section was brilliant. You don’t know what’s happening and you’re being fed various pieces of information/disinformation. You don’t know who’s telling the truth and it’s a fun adrenaline powered ride.
  • Hit the Road, Jack, A.K.A., Are we there yet? – Our cat and mouse game is on and I quickly found myself getting bored. While lots was happening, at the same time it felt like nothing was happening. It was during this time that I started hoping one or both of the women would get killed.
  • What the hell did I just read? – This one speaks for itself, but this is the part of the book where I wondered if perhaps the author had actually planned on writing two books and at the last minute smooshed the second half of one onto the first half of the other. It really felt like the first half didn’t gel with the second. Had the first half ended differently or the climax had belonged to a book with a different lead up I think either would have worked better. It was during this section that we learn that Babysitter is a fan of the madman monologue.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

How far would you go to protect your child?

Maggie’s daughter Penny is her whole world … and she’d do anything to protect her. So when Maggie wakes one night to find a strange woman in her home, she runs to lock herself in her bedroom with her child. But Maggie knows why she’s come … 

Someone has been targeting mothers and offering them a choice: do as he says or their child disappears. This stranger in her home has until dawn to follow his orders … but Maggie too has the ‘choice’ to make. Can she put the pieces together to stop the cycle before her time is up?

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Missing Molly – Natalie Barelli

When I first saw the cover for Missing Molly I wasn’t overly interested in the book as it’s fairly generic and doesn’t really capture your imagination. The blurb, however, really grabbed my attention and I had to read it.

Rachel Holloway works for a small struggling newspaper, the South Hackney Herald, and to try to generate some much needed interest and advertising dollars the team decide to embark upon a new venture – podcasting. Piggybacking off the idea of Serial, an extraordinarily popular investigative podcast, the Herald team decide to focus on a nearby unsolved true crime story.

They’re going to find Molly Forster, whose parents and older sister were murdered fifteen year ago when she was a child. Molly has been missing ever since. The problem is that Rachel Holloway is Molly Forster and there’s a good reason why she doesn’t want to be found.

While I was definitely interested in knowing what came next and I enjoyed the slow reveal of the information discovered during the investigation and its impact on the various characters, I don’t imagine it’s going to be one of those books that lingers in my mind, with me thinking about the characters weeks later. I didn’t particularly love or hate any of the characters and unfortunately I didn’t emotionally connect to any of them.

I was entertained and I liked the guessing game of whether Rachel really was Molly or if in fact she was psychotic, although I found myself searching for red herrings that I never found and didn’t get caught up in unexpected twists and turns like I’d hoped. There was one incident that initially surprised me but one I’d read it it made perfect sense and I was able to come up with the reasons behind this and who had done what quite easily.

Favourite quote:

“Memories, unpleasant ones, are like a scab. You hate them but you pick at them anyway”

Thank you so much to NetGalley, The Last Bureau and Pikko’s House for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Everyone has secrets, and Rachel Holloway is no exception. She’s worked hard to keep the past where it belongs: dead and buried. And so far, she’s been very successful. 

But now the small newspaper where she works wants to produce a podcast on a cold case: the disappearance twelve years ago of little Molly Forster.

Some secrets should never see the light of day, and as far as Rachel is concerned, whatever happened to little Molly is one of them. Rachel has a life now, a boyfriend she loves and a three-year-old daughter she adores, and she will do anything to protect them. 

But to do that, no one can ever know that she is Molly Forster.

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Wolfie & Fly #2: Band on the Run – Cary Fagan

Illustrations – Zoe Si

Renata Wolfman (AKA Wolfie) is an introvert loner nerd and I adored her! She doesn’t do extra classes like pottery or drama, and detests pink and dressing up, but loves reading about helicopters, alone time and her ‘uniform’ of a white t-shirt, overalls and sneakers. She’s snarky and spends a fair amount of her time (when she’s not involved in something she’s passionate about) underwhelmed.

Wolfie’s next-door neighbour Fly (a much better name than the one his parents gave him – Livingston Flott!) is quite the opposite of Wolfie. Fly is an extrovert, could talk under water and is a bundle of energy and enthusiasm. He also has a limited grasp on boundaries: Wolfie stands by the door telling him he can’t come in so he climbs in the window instead.

Wolfie’s parents are trying to encourage her to get more involved in activities including dance class, during which Wolfie’s ingenuity mixed with her stubborn to make me laugh. Later Fly drops by (through the window) and somehow manages to convince her to become the drummer in his Hokum Street Public School talent show entry.

I loved Wolfie’s character so much and I was really enjoying the story until the imagination sequence, during which the book lost me and I wandered somewhat aimlessly until the end. Wolfie and Fly: Band on the Run is the second book in the series and I confess that I haven’t read the first. Therefore, I may be missing something vital so please don’t let my review dissuade you from giving this series a chance.

On to the section that lost me. Wolfie tells Fly she’s not sure she has an imagination. Fast forward a couple of pages and the imagination sequence begins, and is so real to both kids that they’re shocked when they wind up back in Wolfie’s kitchen once it’s finished. Then there’s an element in the story later that implies the imagination sequence was reality.

Now, I have a lot more imagination than sense and I can suspend my disbelief for all things weird and wacky. However this sequence didn’t seem to fit well with the feel of the rest of the book. It felt off to me and while I was happily immersed from the first page, as soon as the imagination sequence began I found myself surfacing, reading words rather than experiencing an adventure.

I adored Zoe Si’s illustrations. They suited the story and the expressions of Wolfie and Fly worked perfectly given their descriptions. Wolfie’s surly, pouty grimaces were as on point as Fly’s energetic bubble of happy. My favourite illustration was the adorable stuffed toy audience patiently waiting for the performance to begin.

Favourite passage:

“Hurray! At last Wolfie had the house to herself. There was nothing she liked better than being alone. Now she could read her book in peace.”

Now that’s a girl I can relate to! 😃

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Tundra Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

A classic story of imagination, friendship, rock bands and high-speed helicopter chases. For fans of Ivy & Bean, Judy Moody or Nate the Great.

Everyone’s favourite odd couple is back. Our heroine, Renata Wolfman (Wolfie) does everything by herself. Friends just get in the way, and she only has time for facts and reading. But friendship finds her in the form of Livingston Flott (Fly), the slightly weird and wordy boy from next door. This time, Fly has convinced Wolfie to join him in his one-man band. Before they know it, they’re playing live onstage in front of a stadium of screaming fans. But these fans are about to get out of control – and Wolfie and Fly have to make a daring escape!

Even though Wolfie thinks she’d rather be at home reading by herself, playing the drums in a rock band is actually pretty fun. Maybe there is something to this friend thing.

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