Patrick Griffin's Last Breakfast on Earth

June 6, 2016
Rust, coauthor of several books with James Patterson, serves up a slightly ponderous screwball comedy about an average boy who finds himself “transubstantiated” to an alternate Earth, called Ith, in exchange for a large, sentient jackalope named Mr. BunBun. Ith has a highly regulated surveillance society where everyone has gigantic eyes and tiny ears, and is obsessed with cell phones and personal safety, the result of an attempt by anarchists to use a pandemic to wipe out the planet. The people of Ith were supposedly saved by Rex Abraham, an Earthling who arrived just in time to prevent their extinction, and the Ithlings worship him as a demigod. Mr. Bunbun, however, knows the truth: “Rex Abraham, Decimator of Worlds,” manufactured the pandemic on Ith and has identical plans for Earth. Although the novel generates some tension, it can also be overly wordy, sapping momentum. It’s perhaps most memorable for Patrick’s confused attempts to fit into Ith’s often absurd society, including learning how to apply makeup, playing contact sports without hitting anyone, and reading its quasi-phonetic language. Ages 8–12.

June 1, 2016
For a story about parallel worlds, this book is hardly science fiction at all.On the world of Ith--where Patrick has arrived under mysterious circumstances--people are obsessed with video games and dystopian stories, everyone is always under surveillance, and there's a constant fear of terrorists and subversives. Aliens: they're just like us. (Illustrations reveal that both ETs and Earthlings are a diverse bunch, including light-brown Patrick and his mother.) The few surprises in the book come from small, comic details. The people of Ith have enormous eyes and tiny ears. This turns out to be a clever--and utterly bonkers--pun: people from Ith (pronounced "Eyeth") have big eyes. People from Earth have big ears. And from time to time, a jackalope or a griffin will show up. (The griffin is named Michael, but it's pronounced "My-Chale," because Ith is big on phonetic pronunciation.) Unfortunately, the book's villain isn't surprising at all. He's the sort of evil overlord who pops up in badly animated cartoons. But he does love Creed, which may amuse fans of post-grunge music. By the time readers get to the cliffhanger ending, they may be more exhausted than amused. The story could use less of the villain and more of the giant jackalope. But then, every book needs more jackalopes. (Science fiction. 8-12)

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May 1, 2016

Gr 5-7-When Patrick Griffin wakes up one rainy March morning, he discovers two things: that he's completely home alone and that there are no waffles for his breakfast. Since he is the middle child of seven kids, being home alone is actually more of a blessing than a curse, so he decides to make the most of his time and do things he isn't supposed to do. And one of those is a science experiment in the kitchen sink. When the experiment explodes and Patrick is knocked out, he wakes up to find himself in an even more bizarre situation: he is now in a parallel world called Ith with strange, big-eyed humanoid creatures that are obsessed with their "binkies," smartphonelike devices. At first, Patrick is convinced that this is all a dream, and he tries in vain to wake himself up. What he doesn't know is that he is now unexpectedly part of a plot to stop the takeover of his world by evil technocrats and when he awoke in that world, a huge jackalope awoke in his. What follows are a series of bizarre and sometimes funny escapades as Patrick has to figure out how to get back home and also decide if he wants to help save Ith and Earth from the technocrats. Though imaginative, Patrick's story drags; it takes far too long for the plot to really take off and for the complex tale to fully be explained. Rust shifts perspectives continuously, going from Patrick's experiences to his various family members to the jackalope and even occasionally to the evil leader of the technocrats, giving the work a disjointed feeling. The ending is unresolved, which some readers may find frustrating, particularly because of how long it takes for the book to find its footing.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

pipermc11 - Patrick has always found it difficult to fit in, but he's never had to fit in with a whole different universe! When 12 year old Patrick Griffith is caught into another world, he must find his way through a new way of reading, government, and different names for everyday objects. In the meantime, while Patrick was transported into a new universe, some objects from other universes end up on Earth as well! As all three universes intertwine, it becomes clear that something is amiss. I personally loved Patrick's character, and he had a certain charm while still being sarcastic/sassy, and he wasn't washed out by the large cast of characters, plot lines, and universes. One criticism I would have is that on the world Patrick was transported too was slightly too different from Earth. I found it hard to follow at some points, and while the length of the book allowed for the necessary world building to occur, it dragged at some points as a result. In specific, when Ith changed the way that words were read, but yet had the same language, I found it slightly hard to believe. Overall, however, I found the world fascinating with intriguing characters and the author was able to balance the various plot lines very well!