Herbert's Wormhole

May 4, 2009
More text-heavy than the subtitle suggests, this loopy debut opens as Alex's well-meaning parents buy the 10-year-old a jungle gym. They also arrange a playdate ("Playdate? Alex hadn't had a playdate since he was seven") with neighbor Herbert, a compulsive inventor, who tinkers with the body suits that came with his AlienSlayer:3-D! video game. When he and Alex wear the suits on the jungle gym, the tubular slide becomes a wormhole that catapults them 100 years into the future. Their hometown is now inhabited by G'Daliens, aliens that speak with Australian accents and resemble giant squid wearing toupees and fake mustaches, a sight the boys find "fall-down, pee-in-your-pants hilarious." The cartoony line art and wacky futuristic particulars should appeal most to readers whose sense of humor tends toward the absurd. Ages 8-12.

August 1, 2009
Gr 3-7-Soon-to-be sixth-grader Alex loves video games and longs to own AlienSlayer: 3-D!, which comes with a holographic-projection unit and two motion-sensor suits. But Alex's parents have other ideas: there's a new jungle gym in the yard and his mother has planned a "playdate" with Herbert, an inventor/genius. To his horror, Alex discovers that his nerdy neighbor has "modified" two AlienSlayer: 3-D! suits. However, instead of allowing their wearers to pass through objects as planned, the suits somehow transform Alex's slide into a wormhole that transports the boys 100 years into the future. There, G'Dalienssquidlike aliens who wear toupeeshave taken over Earth, with mostly positive results. But one extraterrestrial is bent on proving just how stupid and unnecessary humans are and tries to ruin the fragile peace between the two species. Now, through a series of gaffs and mishaps, it's up to Alex and Herbert to save the world. With its amusing cartoon drawings and zany adventures, this is sure to be a hit with reluctant readers. The numerous illustrations are integral to the story, adding detail and keeping the action moving quickly. The plot is slight, but readers won't care. Give this to kids who have moved beyond "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) but want something just as silly and funny."Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2009
Grades 4-6 Written in Captain Underpants style (with cartoons injected into the narrative), though with fewer illustrations, this romp takes squabbling sixth-graders Alex and Herbertlater joined by overscheduled but literally game-saving supergirl Sammion repeated trips into a near future in which eerily placid humans happily share the planet with toupee-wearing, hideously squidlike aliens. Raos line-drawn cartoons add dialogue, details, and side commentary to a nonstop plot that climaxes in a violent game of anti-gravity T-ball (think roller derby meets Quidditch), followed by a round of the video game AlienSlayer: 3D thats so realistic it leaves the onlooking multispecies crowds believing their heroic visitors from the past have saved Earth from a real invasion. Its all great, silly fun, laced with crowd-pleasing lines (to Herbert, an aliens flesh felt like a giant rubber glove filled with warmed-up snot), and memorable for more than just the garish orange cover.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)