Grandpa's Great Escape

November 28, 2016
It’s 1983, but Jack’s grandfather, whose memory is failing, believes that the year is 1940, when he was a decorated RAF pilot serving in WWII. Unlike his worried parents, 12-year-old Jack views the workings of Grandpa’s mind as “nothing short of magical,” is spellbound by the man’s wartime tales, and eagerly plays “Squadron Leader” to Grandpa’s “Wing Commander” as they outwit enemy aircraft from their armchair cockpits. Knowing that “You had to enter Grandpa’s world to get through to him,” Jack uses military lingo to talk his grandfather down from a church spire, remove him from a museum’s fighter plane, and help him escape the nightmarish Twilight Towers home for the elderly (motto: “Caring for your unwanted old folk”). Ross’s energetic drawings and some playful use of typography bring additional drama and humor to the story. As in Walliams’s Demon Dentist, the adult characters are of the bumbling sort—such as Miss Swine, the diabolical matron of Twilight Towers, and a pair of detectives, Beef and Bone—and the story’s comedy is nicely counterbalanced by the poignant bond between Jack and Grandpa. Ages 8–12.

November 1, 2016
Jack and his grandfather, a former RAF pilot, are inseparable, even though Grandpa's grasp on reality is slipping.It's 1983, and 12-year-old Jack adores his grandfather and the stories he tells of the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. Problem is, Grandpa lives in his stories now. Jack knows just how to talk to Grandpa: he's Squadron Leader, and Grandpa is Wing Commander. When Grandpa is found stuck on a church steeple thinking he's flying his plane, the vicar suggests Twilight Towers. Jack insists Grandpa never be put in a home, but after a disastrous class trip to the history museum that ends in police custody, Grandpa is carted off to Twilight Towers, which is run by the ominously named and more than a little peculiar-seeming Miss Swine. Can Jack and Grandpa effect an escape? And what is really going on with Miss Swine and her cadre of burly nurses? Walliams walks a fine line in his attempt to make dementia funny and doesn't always succeed. Grandpa's misunderstanding of the world around him gets repetitious. Though Jack and Grandpa have a realistic and touching relationship, Jack acts much younger than 12. The book's use of various typefaces and fonts for emphasis and drama, plus ample illustrations from the always splendid Ross, will keep the pages in this plump volume turning, though. This Dahl-esque tale may not be quite scrumdiddlyumptious, but it's a mostly entertaining one. (Historical fiction. 7-10)

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November 1, 2016

Gr 3-6-Twelve-year-old Jack loves to spend time with his grandfather, who regales him with stories of his daring feats as a British Royal Air Force pilot during World War II. Lately, though, Grandpa has been more and more confused, getting into scrapes because he believes that he is still battling the Nazis. After one particularly dangerous escapade involving an antique plane at the Imperial War Museum, Jack's parents decide to send Grandpa to live at Twilight Towers, the town's new nursing home. When Jack goes to visit his grandfather, he discovers that Twilight Towers is run by some unsavory characters who are drugging the residents and rewriting their wills. Grandpa, understandably, thinks that he is being held in a prison camp, and he hatches a plan to break all of the residents out of the home. After one final adventure as the gentleman's sidekick, Jack must say good-bye to his grandfather, comforted by the amazing memories of their time together. Filled with hyperbolic characters, wild exploits, and zany visual elements, this volume is clearly influenced by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake. Walliams and Ross revel in impudence and absurdity, and they do not shy away from sinister characters performing nefarious deeds. While the irreverent wit will keep readers engaged, the surprising tenderness in the relationship between Jack and his ailing grandfather is what makes this book truly shine. VERDICT A darkly humorous tale with a surprising amount of heart. This British import is a solid addition to medium to large middle grade collections.-Sarah Reid, Four County Library System, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016
Grades 3-5 Young Jack's efforts to keep his beloved but increasingly senile grandpa out of an old folks home lead to a string of wild misadventures in Walliams' latest Brit-flavored farce. Said efforts ultimately come to naught when Grandpa, believing that he's still a hotshot fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain, steals off to the Imperial War Museum and falls asleep in an old Spitfire. But the plot thickens considerably after Grandpa is sent to forbidding Twilight Towers ( Caring for your unwanted old folk ), a former lunatic asylum run by suspiciously hulking nurses. What to do? Help his grandpa round up all the resident seniors and engineer a daring night escape, of course. Typographical high jinks add melodramatic notes to the narrative, Ross' many comical cartoon vignettes further lighten the overall tone, and along with filling out the supporting cast with clueless, inept adults, the author ultimately gives Grandpaand that Spitfirea grand send-off. A pleaser for fans of similar escapades engineered by the likes of Roald Dahl or Frank Cottrell-Boyce. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Walliams, already popular in the UK, is a best-seller this side of the pond as well, and this caper promises to be no different.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)