Wonkenstein

July 1, 2011

Skye adds another Wimpy Kid to the growing bandwagon.

Sounding almost too nerdy to be true ("I'm kind of like a backup singer in the song of life"), 12-year-old Rob relates his tale in the now-requisite mix of block-print–type prose and line-drawn cartoon figures with punch lines or commentary in dialogue balloons. A string of hectic events follows the appearance of a manic mannequin from the midden of books and old science projects in his closet. He describes it as "a small, weird man who came up to just above my waist. He looked like two different people who had been smashed together." Comical chases, pranks, interactions with friends dependable and otherwise, mortifying mishaps in front of girls and like standard fare later, Rob has overcome severe stage fright to mend fences with classmate Janae and others by reciting a poem of apology at a school talent show. He has also been turned on to books by his discovery that the mannequin is an amalgam of Willy Wonka and Frankenstein's monster. In the end, Wonkenstein slips back into the closet—and out springs an even smaller Harry Potter/Chewbacca blend. Sequels, anyone?

Likely to be lost in the crowd, but comfy antics for readers who don't probably much like reading—which, one thinks, is exactly the point. (Fantasy. 9-11)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011

Gr 4-6-Rob Burnside is as average as a 12-year-old can be. His only claim to fame is that he is distantly related to the person who invented sideburns. His mother is always coaxing him to read, but all the books she buys for him end up in a jumble in his closet, which also doubles as his "laboratory." The sameness of Rob's life skids to a halt when someone inexplicable bursts from his lab one day. At first Rob has no idea who this little guy is, but then a trip to the library determines that he is a bizarre mash-up of Willy Wonka and Frankenstein. Rob must go to great-and often embarrassing-lengths to conceal "Wonkenstein," because he'll be in huge trouble if his parents find out what a mess his closet is. Written in a journal/comic format from the perspective of an underachieving narrator, this book owes an obvious debt to Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series (Abrams). The drawings don't pack a big comedic punch, but the writing is quite funny and has a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. And while the format and the protagonist might not be inventive, the idea of a hybrid Willy Wonka/Frankenstein character is original and hilarious. This book will be a hit with kids who can't get enough of the Wimpy Kid.-Amy Holland, Irondequoit Public Library, NY

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
Grades 4-7 In this highly amusing new series starter, 12-year-old Rob Burnside chronicles his middle-school missteps in the graphic style of the famously wimpy Greg Heffley. Like Greg, Rob punctuates his storytelling with funny drawings, though his sketches often feature imagined outcomes or exaggerated versions of reality. Similarly, Rob has to deal with a challenge more daunting than gym class or middle-school girls (though he has to deal with them, too): a creature that has spontaneously generated from the materials in Rob's remarkably messy closet. The closet started out as a place for lab supplies (condiments, Play-Doh, mud, etc.), but it has become a place for things I don't want to deal with anymore. These include the books that his mother regularly thrusts upon him. Skye gives Rob a self-deprecating charm and highlights the pleasures of books both subtly and effectively. The book's titular hero is an antic combination of Frankenstein's monster and Willy Wonka; the next book, it is hinted, will feature a hybrid of Harry Potter and Chewbacca.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)