If This is Hoboken, What is Frankenstein Doing Here?
Written: Jul 14 '01 (Updated Jul 14 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: Fast paced and fun. Great springboard to dozens of wonderful books.
Cons: Only 73 pages. I want more! Some girl book fans may take offense.
The Bottom Line: Whether you've met the Time Warp Trio before or not, you'll have no trouble understanding and enjoying every minute of their crazy adventures here.
jrk's Full Review: Jon Scieszka - Summer Reading Is Killing Me
Ah, those summer vacation days of my youth! Long, hot days to run barefoot through the sprinklers or sit nursing a fudgesicle under the magnolia tree. Games of hide and seek, trips to the beach, maybe a little skating just before dark, when the sparks from those old metal roller skate wheels showered orange lightning onto the concrete as we thundered down the sidewalks, savoring the last minutes of play on yet another day free of teachers, books, and homework.
Summer reading lists? Vacation book reports? Forget it! There were far more important things to do.
That was a long time ago, but some things never change. Even today, no red-blooded, normal, American kid is going to think about starting off a summer vacation by getting busy on next year's book reports, right? That's just not healthy. Maybe even dangerous. It could even be lethal. Think I'm exaggerating? Well, just look at what happened to the Time Warp Trio all because of a summer reading list in Jon Scieszka's Summer Reading is Killing Me!
A Bad Idea
It's the first day of summer vacation. Joe, Sam, and Fred haven't decided yet just how they're going to spend this first marvelous day of freedom. They do know what they're not going to do though. They're definitely not going to open that temptingly, troublesome, time-warping book that Joe's uncle gave him for his birthday. No way. They're sure about that. They're not going to open The Book that has managed to land them in trouble everywhere and everywhen from the Stone Age into the future, The Book that they must always find in each new place and time to which they travel before they can return to their own world.
So it's settled. They won't open The Book. But what should they do?
That's when Sam comes up with a really bad idea. He whips out the summer reading list and foolishly suggests that maybe they should choose something to read so they can get their reports done and have the rest of summer to do whatever they please.
Fred, being your normal, red-blooded, American kid, is aghast at such insanity: "Summer reading list? Are you crazy? This is vacation. We don't have to read anything. That's why they call it vacation."
With a deft move, Fred snatches the list out of Sam's hand, and blindly shoves it into a book on Joe's shelf, satisfied that this bad idea has been laid to rest. Unfortunately for the boys, of all the books into which he could have tucked the list, Fred had to go and stick it into The Book. Too late now. Looks like the Time Warp Trio is about to be whisked away in The Book's magical green mist yet again into another of their bizarre adventures.
Killer Chickens, The Devil, and More
What follows is a life-threatening but hilarious adventure for our trio of time-travellers whose first encounter finds them menaced by a 266 pound killer chicken. But that's nothing! Before the tale is over, they'll have to pit their wits against the Horned King, the Red Queen, Dracula, Ms. Trunchbull, the Devil, and more, because the characters from all the books on their summer reading list have been transported along with them to Hoboken by The Book's green mist.
Will they survive this summer reading list? Will they find The Book and escape back to summer vacation? You'll have to discover that for yourself, and you'll have a lot of fun in the process as you encounter some of the most memorable characters of children's literature.
The writing is simple enough for children of third grade reading level to tackle on their own. But the story is told with such humor and imagination that it even managed to captivate an old kid like me. See how many of the characters you recognize as this tale unfolds. Even with as much children's literature as I read, there were still a few characters here that I didn't already know and love. But that's a good thing. It means new people and places are still left for me to discover. What fun!
Further Reading
For readers interested in getting better acquainted with some of the characters who make cameo appearances in this story, a copy of the Time Warp Trio's summer reading list is included at the end of the book and contains all the tales the author loved enough to purloin their characters. You'll find more than a summer's worth of great books for young readers here.
Missing from this list are most of those girl books that our time-travelling trio speak of with such disdain. If you love The Babysitters' Club, American Girls, Sweet Valley High, the Anne books or even Nancy Drew, you may balk at the barbs thrust their way. I was never much of a girl book fan myself (well, except for Nancy; she was special!), so this didn't bother me a bit, but I guess it might ruffle a few girls' feathers.
If you enjoy the Time Warp Trio's adventures in Summer Reading is Killing Me!, you can also follow them into other times and places in: Knights of the Kitchen Table, The Not-So-Jolly Roger, The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy, Your Mother was a Neanderthal, 2095, Tut, Tut, See You Later, Gladiator, It's All Greek to Me, and Samurai Time Warp Trio (to be released October 2001).
Jon Scieszka is also the author of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales,The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, and Math Curse, all of which are illustrated by the wonderful Lane Smith, whose black & white illustrations also adorn Summer Reading is Killing Me!.
But parents, do try to be understanding, and think back to when you were young. Some things never change. Children just instinctively know the last rule of Scieszka's study guide: Put the study guide away and don't look at it again until the night before the first day of school. As Fred said: "That's why they call it vacation."
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