Fries Alive!

May 30, 2005
Bestselling adult novelist Baldacci (Hour Game
) limps into children's fiction with this inane tale launching the Freddy and the French Fries series. The premise has comic potential, as the author introduces the eccentric Funkhousers. Aspiring scientist Freddy, his wacky inventor father and his 13-year-old Shakespearian quotations–spouting sister dress up (respectively as a chicken, tomato and ketchup bottle) to work at their restaurant, Burger Castle, where "almost no one ever came to eat... unless it was by accident." Located across the street is a snazzy burger place (Patty Cakes) with amusement park rides and a movie theater; the owner (who is also the police chief and mayor) and his thuggish son Adam are preparing an elaborate float for the upcoming parade competition they perennially win. After Adam and his gang attack Burger Castle with paint guns, Freddy is determined to seek revenge. He uses "his father's super secret potatoes and nanotechnology," to create five brightly colored, human-size French Fries. The plot plummets from here, as the rowdy Fries help Freddy and his best friend Howie Kapowie humiliate Adam and his pals and use their powers to clinch the float prize for the Funkhousers. Kids who can't resist references to "butt" and "poop" will find plenty to guffaw at here. Yet most readers may feel that these Fries make for less-than appetizing, curiously bland fare and pass on a second helping. Ages 8-12.

June 1, 2005
Gr 4-6 -It's not easy being a boy genius when your father runs a floundering health-conscious burger joint and your older sister's a deeply annoying wannabe actress. But Freddy T. Funkhouser isn't distressed. He has a plan to win the prize for the best float at the local Founders' Day Parade and bring more attention to his dad's business. To do so, he has constructed five life-sized mechanical fries, each with its own personality. The hope is to bring these kooky creations to life through nanotechnology and a million jiggy-watts of power and then use them on his float. Yet when an experiment involving a dam and a bolt of lightning does awaken the electric fries, Freddy finds his troubles have only just begun. Baldacci, best known for his adult thrillers, is attempting to reach out to reluctant readers by creating a series very much in the vein of Dav Pilkey's -Captain Underpants - series (Scholastic), but for an older audience. Unfortunately, he lacks Pilkey's gleeful silliness and relies too heavily on gross-out jokes and slapstick pratfalls. His attempt to teach kids about the importance of friends and sticking together gets bogged down by poor writing and two-dimensional characters." -Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2005
Gr. 2-4. Adult suspense writer Baldacci tries his hand at children's fantasy in the first of a proposed series featuring nine-year-old science geek Freddy Funkhouser and his gang of monster fries. Freddy and his father and sister run a failing restaurant called Burger Castle. Freddy's nemesis is bully Adam Spanker, whose family owns a successful burger joint, Patty Cakes. Freddy's fries create unbelievable trouble (wreaking havoc on the baseball field and hitching a ride on top of a moving freight train), but they also save the day (and Burger Castle) in the end. Baldacci's over-the-top action vaults at breakneck speed from one crisis to another, his characters are intentionally stereotyped (somewhat like their television and video-game counterparts), and body orifice humor abounds. While such elements might give adults pause, kids, particularly fans of Daniel Pinkwater, Dav Pilkey, and Steven Manes, will undoubtedly be delighted. An accompanying Web site promises interviews, contests, and previews of upcoming books in the series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)