The Rat Brain Fiasco

November 22, 2010
Sisters Berry and Gardner kick off their Splurch Academy for Disruptive Boys series with an idea best described as Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein in detention. The hero, Cody Mack, is a Class A troublemaker who finally goes too far ("That had been a shame, that thing about the fire in the teacher's lounge") and gets shipped off to the mysterious Splurch Academy. Hogwarts it ain't: the boys wear striped prison uniforms, rats abound, and the ghoulish headmaster and his creepy staff have some unorthodox ideas about behavior modification that involve the "rebellium cortex" ("the part of the brain that makes boys naughty") and a nasty-looking machine called the Rebellio-Rodent Recipronator. But Cody proves that he's more than the sum of his misdemeanors; he's a fearless, natural-born leader and force to be reckoned with—though a dangling conclusion suggests that his standoff with Splurch Academy is just getting warmed up. Gardner's numerous drawings strike the right Cracked Comics note, with just enough panel images to entice graphic novel fans, and Berry's upbeat storytelling delivers gently snarky wit. Available simultaneously: Curse of the Bizarro Beetle. Ages 9–12.

November 1, 2010

Gr 3-6-Cody Mack has been sent to the principal's office yet again because of his troublesome behavior. This time, instead of detention, he is introduced to Dr. Farley, a world-famous specialist in naughty children. The next day Cody is shipped off to Splurch Academy, a boarding school that is famous for its sinister plans to mold boys into becoming "model citizens." To his surprise, the school is nothing more than a haunted-house nightmare run by crazy-foolish monsters. Cody runs into enemies that include mummy librarians, living skeletons, devil dogs, and squeaky rats. He also makes friends who try to help him escape the Farley Method experiment, for Cody will soon be the first student at Splurch Academy to test the Rebellio-Rodent Recipronator, which swaps the naughty part of the brain with a rat's brain. This hybrid novel incorporates black-and-white illustrations in a comic-book format. The story contains harmless malevolence and revenge, which will keep readers coming back for more. The imaginative writing and goofy plot will attract reluctant readers. With a tongue-in-cheek style and hilarious cartoons, the laugh-out-loud story is sure to creep off the shelves-Krista Welz, North Bergen Public Library, NJ

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