The Big One-Oh

Author Dean Pitchford shows he's a kid at heart as he narrates his own comic tale. Nine-year-old Charley Maplewood thinks he's a deprived child because he's never had a birthday party. Charley plans to remedy the situation by hosting a house-of-horrors celebration for his big "one-oh." Dean Pitchford is perfectly convincing as a 9-year-old. Pitchford hams up the unfairness of school with a boyish voice, and he even whoops and hollers during the scary parts. With fake body parts and squishy eyeballs, Pitchford swaggers through a hyperbolic tale of birthday mayhem. One might accuse him of overacting except that his pleasure in the story is so contagious. Fresh and loud, this audio performance aims at thrill-seeking listeners and hits its mark. C.A. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

March 12, 2007
In this debut novel from song- and screenwriter Pitchford, a boy relates the sometimes funny, sometimes moving story of how he planned his 10th birthday party. The thought of having a party had not occurred to narrator Charley until he gets a card from his father (who left home three years earlier) asking, "What are you going to do on your big day?" Fearful that he has too much in common with his loner neighbor Garry (the boy refers to them as "two friendless freaks"), Charley vows "to throw the best party—in the history—of
the
world!
" He organizes his plans into a Birthday Notebook, and entry #1 reads, "Make friends." Ironically, the lad does befriend Garry, who used to create special effects for movies and now spends his days making body parts out of latex in his garage. Charley, a devoted fan of Monsters & Maniacs
magazine, decides to throw a horror-themed party, an idea his so-called friends at school think is cool. Just when it looks like Charley's big day is doomed, Garry comes to the rescue, in a riotous scene that calls upon the man's expertise. Pitchford develops likable, believable lead characters (Charley's beleaguered mother and caustic older sister play strong supporting roles), but some of Charley's peers act and speak in voices that seem older than those of 10-year-olds (e.g., at the start of the party, the class bully announces, "I've been to bar mitzvahs that were scarier"). Overall, however, this is entertaining fare. Ages 8-up.