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What We Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World
When River, Freak, and Fiona discover a rare zucchini-colored crayon between the cushions of a mysterious sofa at their bus stop, they quickly find themselves in the middle of an evil plot to conquer the world! The plot's mastermind, Edward Disin, is responsible for starting the underground coal seam fire that continually burns just beyond the kids' backyards, a dastardly cover-up for an intergalactic portal that will soon transport an army of invaders to Earth.
Disin's only weakness is his otherworldly obsession with the zucchini crayon--and he knows the kids have it. But with the help of an eccentric neighbor, an artificial intelligence in the form of a double-six domino, a DNA-analyzing tray, two hot air balloons, and a cat named Mucus, three kids from the middle of nowhere might be able to save the planet.
Henry Clark's dazzling debut middle grade novel is a thoroughly original, unabashedly wacky, and surprisingly affecting story about the importance of intelligence and curiosity in a complacent world.
Disin's only weakness is his otherworldly obsession with the zucchini crayon--and he knows the kids have it. But with the help of an eccentric neighbor, an artificial intelligence in the form of a double-six domino, a DNA-analyzing tray, two hot air balloons, and a cat named Mucus, three kids from the middle of nowhere might be able to save the planet.
Henry Clark's dazzling debut middle grade novel is a thoroughly original, unabashedly wacky, and surprisingly affecting story about the importance of intelligence and curiosity in a complacent world.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
62 people are currently reading
986 people want to read
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Henry Clark
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 281 reviews
August 3, 2013
I adored this book. It is over-the-top wacky in a way that felt normal and comfortable - kind of like the sofa. Wait until you read about the sofa! I love the sofa! Adventure, friendship, science fiction awesomeness. Also, well crafted writing with quite a bit of clever wit and wordplay that I totally enjoyed. This will definitely make it into my roster of booktalk titles.
January 14, 2014
WWFSHSW is a sweet, weird book that’s almost, but not quite, great. It reminded me of Adam Rex’s The True Meaning of Smekday, another middle grade fantasy with a lot of heart buried beneath its absurdity.
Like Smekday, it’s a little too strange for its own good, and I don’t see this book becoming a huge success in the manner of Percy Jackson. There was sometimes an uneasy balance between (literal) toilet humor, arch literary allusions, and the everyday struggles of the three heroes. Clark also has a strong subversive streak, and this book not-so-subtly criticizes cell phone addiction, corporate greed, GMO foods, strip mining, and failure to question our leaders. The constantly shifting tone and clever little in-jokes made it difficult, as an adult reader, to feel fully immersed in the story.
Then again, I was an adult reading a book meant for middle schoolers.
Underneath all the imaginative world-building and weird McGuffins–a central plot point focuses on a zucchini-colored crayon–WWFSHSW is your standard adventure tale. The bones of the story are essentially the Hero’s Journey; the heroes are plunged into a strange world, meet a wise but potentially untrustworthy guide, battle monsters, journey into the dragon’s den to defeat the villain and save the world, and return home changed for the better. There’s nothing wrong with using these time-honored archetypes, but Clark might have gone a little overboard in dressing them up in silly hats. Dog hats, to be precise.
Grown-up fans of classic adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi will probably enjoy Clark’s debut novel, if only to count the number of allusions to their favorite books. Readers in the actual target demographic (grades 3-7, according to Amazon) will appreciate a book that never dumbs things down, and from which parents are, for the most part, conspicuously absent.
(Cross-posted to my blog, )
Like Smekday, it’s a little too strange for its own good, and I don’t see this book becoming a huge success in the manner of Percy Jackson. There was sometimes an uneasy balance between (literal) toilet humor, arch literary allusions, and the everyday struggles of the three heroes. Clark also has a strong subversive streak, and this book not-so-subtly criticizes cell phone addiction, corporate greed, GMO foods, strip mining, and failure to question our leaders. The constantly shifting tone and clever little in-jokes made it difficult, as an adult reader, to feel fully immersed in the story.
Then again, I was an adult reading a book meant for middle schoolers.
Underneath all the imaginative world-building and weird McGuffins–a central plot point focuses on a zucchini-colored crayon–WWFSHSW is your standard adventure tale. The bones of the story are essentially the Hero’s Journey; the heroes are plunged into a strange world, meet a wise but potentially untrustworthy guide, battle monsters, journey into the dragon’s den to defeat the villain and save the world, and return home changed for the better. There’s nothing wrong with using these time-honored archetypes, but Clark might have gone a little overboard in dressing them up in silly hats. Dog hats, to be precise.
Grown-up fans of classic adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi will probably enjoy Clark’s debut novel, if only to count the number of allusions to their favorite books. Readers in the actual target demographic (grades 3-7, according to Amazon) will appreciate a book that never dumbs things down, and from which parents are, for the most part, conspicuously absent.
(Cross-posted to my blog, )
September 19, 2015
Age: 5th-8th grade
First line: "The sofa wasn't there on Monday but it was there on Tuesday."
I kinda became obsessed while reading this. The snarky humor is full of wit and one-liners without feeling egotistical and the plot moves fluidly and is full of action. This book would make an excellent introduction to science fiction and fans of Hitchhiker's Guide will find Douglas Adams' influence where the plot reins supreme--but fresh, silly jokes abound.
First line: "The sofa wasn't there on Monday but it was there on Tuesday."
I kinda became obsessed while reading this. The snarky humor is full of wit and one-liners without feeling egotistical and the plot moves fluidly and is full of action. This book would make an excellent introduction to science fiction and fans of Hitchhiker's Guide will find Douglas Adams' influence where the plot reins supreme--but fresh, silly jokes abound.
January 19, 2014
This is such a great middle grade read! It was engaging and fun. I also love all of the allusions (A Wrinkle in Time, Picasso, Dilbert, Superman and more). I know my 6th graders will eat this book up.
September 14, 2013
This review is easy; I really don’t have to tell you much more than the title. I can pretty much guarantee that if you like the title, you are gonna love the book. It’s that simple.
As for me, I loved the title the minute I saw it. So there you have it.
As for me, I loved the title the minute I saw it. So there you have it.
August 14, 2015
What We Found in the Sofa and How it Saved the World, is a really long title. That might be my criticism of the book. Maybe one more about needing a bit more diversity. However, other than that, this was a wonderfully funny, heartwarming, good message filled, action packed and original story for middle grade kids. And I had a great time reading it.
We start out with our three heroes, River, Fiona and Freak discovering an abandoned sofa sitting near their bus stop. The three kids live on the edge of Hellsboro (how cool is that) and their bus stop is next to a mansion where a crazy man lives, though no one's seen him.
The sofa itself is pretty interesting, inside it's cushion crevices they find a rare zucchini colored crayon and when they put it up for auction they get some pretty high bids. Enter Alf, the crazy guy living in the crazy old man's mansion. Rightfully that crayon, along with the couch it came from belongs to him, but he's willing to share the auction profits with the kids if they're willing to help him out in return.
It turns out that Alf's dad is the CEO of Disin corporation, the town that provides all the tasty Agra-Nation snacks the kids eat and the cell phones that keep everyone connected (and more).
Like I said, it's a exciting adventure story and the three kids learn and grow a lot throughout, but nothing too heartwarmingly sickening. Lessons are there, but readers are not struck over the head with the message. Mainly it's a fun story about three kids who are friends, but become better friends and better people over the course of the zany, wacky and dangerous adventure they have together.
For kids who like humorous adventure tales like Cold Cereal, M.T. Anderson novels or even the Heck series by Dale E. Basye.
We start out with our three heroes, River, Fiona and Freak discovering an abandoned sofa sitting near their bus stop. The three kids live on the edge of Hellsboro (how cool is that) and their bus stop is next to a mansion where a crazy man lives, though no one's seen him.
The sofa itself is pretty interesting, inside it's cushion crevices they find a rare zucchini colored crayon and when they put it up for auction they get some pretty high bids. Enter Alf, the crazy guy living in the crazy old man's mansion. Rightfully that crayon, along with the couch it came from belongs to him, but he's willing to share the auction profits with the kids if they're willing to help him out in return.
It turns out that Alf's dad is the CEO of Disin corporation, the town that provides all the tasty Agra-Nation snacks the kids eat and the cell phones that keep everyone connected (and more).
Like I said, it's a exciting adventure story and the three kids learn and grow a lot throughout, but nothing too heartwarmingly sickening. Lessons are there, but readers are not struck over the head with the message. Mainly it's a fun story about three kids who are friends, but become better friends and better people over the course of the zany, wacky and dangerous adventure they have together.
For kids who like humorous adventure tales like Cold Cereal, M.T. Anderson novels or even the Heck series by Dale E. Basye.
February 4, 2017
I liked it. The title is deceiving. You think it might be stupid (well the premise kinda is), but actually not bad.
March 6, 2017
3.5 stars. Cute ya scifi book about three friends who discover a mysterious sofa sitting near their school bus stop and then their lives get really, really weird.
July 7, 2020
The sofa wasn't there on Monday but it was there on Tuesday.
This was weird, but in the best way. It has so many similar vibes to all those weird-but-wonderful middle-grade books, like , , and . River, Freak, and Fiona are such a fun trio, Alf is hilarious, and the sofa is truly iconic. I think I would've enjoyed it more if I'd read it when I was younger, but it was still a ton of fun.
4 stars from me.
This was weird, but in the best way. It has so many similar vibes to all those weird-but-wonderful middle-grade books, like , , and . River, Freak, and Fiona are such a fun trio, Alf is hilarious, and the sofa is truly iconic. I think I would've enjoyed it more if I'd read it when I was younger, but it was still a ton of fun.
4 stars from me.
July 19, 2020
Review by James, age 9, 11/10/18
This story is about a zucchini-colored crayon from the rare "Victory Garden" set of crayons. The crayon is extremely rare. Three kids found this crayon in a sofa by their bus stop. The sofa hadn't been there last time. The found the crayon and start an online auction for it. They are very surprised when the high bid is $7000. They go to Old Man Underhill's house - he lives in a mansion - because the crayon was found in his sofa and they know it belongs to him. They explain the situation and schedule an appointment with him after school, when they find out that Old Man Underhill is not actually human - from a talking painting.
They are plunged headlong into an adventure involving mind control, world domination, and teleportation.
I loved this book because it had self-aware furniture and dog hats. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi / adventure and talking paintings.
This story is about a zucchini-colored crayon from the rare "Victory Garden" set of crayons. The crayon is extremely rare. Three kids found this crayon in a sofa by their bus stop. The sofa hadn't been there last time. The found the crayon and start an online auction for it. They are very surprised when the high bid is $7000. They go to Old Man Underhill's house - he lives in a mansion - because the crayon was found in his sofa and they know it belongs to him. They explain the situation and schedule an appointment with him after school, when they find out that Old Man Underhill is not actually human - from a talking painting.
They are plunged headlong into an adventure involving mind control, world domination, and teleportation.
I loved this book because it had self-aware furniture and dog hats. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi / adventure and talking paintings.
August 24, 2013
This is a wild, goofy ride of an adventure story, laced with slapstick humor and hair-raising stunts for the young, along with clever allusions and puns for the aware, making it a perfect read-out-loud parent-child experience. Three ordinary 12-year-olds are pressed into service to do nothing less than save the world from an evil mastermind whose only weakness is a bad case of CCD -- Compulsive Collecting Disease. The proceedings run apace with frequent nods to prior fantasy adventures, including A Wrinkle in Time (a tessering couch, portals into a parallel world, the hot air balloon from The Wizard of Oz; and the original Superman comic. The story culminates in the auction of the world's rarest Crayola. To give you a sense of the proceedings, a preliminary auction includes the coveted red crayon, "used by the Surgeon General to draw blood." Have fun!
July 6, 2016
J'avais lu beaucoup de critiques positives sur ce roman et j'étais intriguée, même si ce n'est pas le genre de romans que je lis habituellement. Je ne suis pas déçue, mais pas enchantée non plus.
L'humour déjanté m'a beaucoup plu au départ, me faisant penser à celui d' dans , mais trop, c'est comme pas assez : un m'ment donné faut savoir doser. C'est comme si l'auteur s'était donné comme mission de faire rire ses lecteurs à toutes les 30 secondes et j'avoue que j'ai ri plusieurs fois. Mais à la fin, c'était devenu trop rocambolesque, trop gros, je n'y croyais plus.
L'humour déjanté m'a beaucoup plu au départ, me faisant penser à celui d' dans , mais trop, c'est comme pas assez : un m'ment donné faut savoir doser. C'est comme si l'auteur s'était donné comme mission de faire rire ses lecteurs à toutes les 30 secondes et j'avoue que j'ai ri plusieurs fois. Mais à la fin, c'était devenu trop rocambolesque, trop gros, je n'y croyais plus.
April 30, 2013
Reading this, I had flashbacks to Adam Rex's and thought, "this is a cute idea but..." Maybe I'm just too old, but there was something a little missing here.
The idea of Indorsia and a computer disguised as a living room set was interesting. Likewise the "Victory Garden" crayon set, including rutabaga and zucchini colored crayons. Freak, Fiona and River's adventures in the Underhill house and Hellsboro were, as per the genre, a little over the top. More on the flash mobs might have been fun, or less on the CCD. Or perhaps a little more humor (there was very little here) would have been the answer. Still, I'm not the target age group and they might find it a better read.
ARC provided by publisher.
The idea of Indorsia and a computer disguised as a living room set was interesting. Likewise the "Victory Garden" crayon set, including rutabaga and zucchini colored crayons. Freak, Fiona and River's adventures in the Underhill house and Hellsboro were, as per the genre, a little over the top. More on the flash mobs might have been fun, or less on the CCD. Or perhaps a little more humor (there was very little here) would have been the answer. Still, I'm not the target age group and they might find it a better read.
ARC provided by publisher.
November 6, 2014
Think Beverly Cleary, Ralph the Mouse, the books you read as a young reader that yeah, okay, it is not real life and could not happen yet, you loved them. Welcome to the silliness, the moral, the funny, the profane, the silly, yet the entertaining tale that Henry Clark spins that does in fact intriguer us. OftenI found myself smiling, laughing, and shaking my head, yet the pages turned and I wanted to know what happened next.I loved the title as it reminded me of Bill & Ted's Adventure. I admit it, I love the silly farsical and crazy and well this comes almost perfect to fitting the bill! In places, some, I found to hard to get lost in the story but overall, this is a great read and reminds me why I loved reading in the first place!
July 23, 2013
This book was really good! If you liked the book "The Mysterious Benedict Society" then you will love this book. It was about three kids who find a rare zucchini crayon and a double six domino in the cushions of a sofa. They didn't know it at first, but they led them to solve mysteries and save the world from evil Edward Disin. It was such a great book. I think that this is a "must read" for all mystery lovers.
March 25, 2013
Interesting middle grade sci-fi tale that is the first book by Henry Clark. Hopefully he writes more. In this book the Earth is about to be taken over by an alien who came to our planet in the 50s. And it is up to three kids, their rather goofy neighbor and a variety of trinkets and furniture enhanced with futuristic artificial intelligence to save the world. Very wacky, but very entertaining.
February 6, 2017
Inventive, fun, touching, action-filled story. The female lead, Fiona--the smart one--is an excellent role model for girls. Kids with realistic family and peer problems who buck up and save the world.
June 10, 2013
River, Freak and Fiona are three unlikely friends united by their outcast status and by the tragedies in their families' pasts. They are also the only kids in town who still live in the neighborhood closest to the mysterious underground coal fire known as Hellsboro. When they find a rare zucchini-colored crayon between the covers of a sofa that appears one day at their bus stop, it launches them into the midst of an intergalactic mystery. Surrounded by teleporting furniture, talking dominos, eccentric neighbors, and axe-wielding grannies, they must rely their own ingenuity and the bonds of friendship to navigate through the many dangers of Hellsboro and save the day.
I had high hopes for this book. For one thing, it has a great title. That and the wry humor of the first couple of chapters set me up for some Daniel Pinkwater-style weirdness and wit. Some of that is present, to be sure. The independent-minded sofa and the sentient Picasso painting / domino are probably worth the price of admission, as are some of the more ridiculous plot devices. Compulsive Completist Disorder? Hista Mime? Flash mobs? Delightful nonsense.
In many ways, though, this is clearly a first novel. The villains are dastardly, the pacing is uneven, and the whole thing wraps up far too neatly. I don't mind a neat ending, actually (huge Dickens fan!), but there wasn't enough groundwork laid for this one. It's nice that Freak's family problems vanish in a puff of money, but alcoholism and domestic violence are usually more entrenched than that. Those are the kinds of flaws I don't expect to see in a serious Newbery contender.
But they are excusable in a darkly funny sci-fi summer read, and that is squarely where I would place Sofa. I'll also be keeping an eye out for Henry Clark's next books - there's lots of talent and potential here.
I had high hopes for this book. For one thing, it has a great title. That and the wry humor of the first couple of chapters set me up for some Daniel Pinkwater-style weirdness and wit. Some of that is present, to be sure. The independent-minded sofa and the sentient Picasso painting / domino are probably worth the price of admission, as are some of the more ridiculous plot devices. Compulsive Completist Disorder? Hista Mime? Flash mobs? Delightful nonsense.
In many ways, though, this is clearly a first novel. The villains are dastardly, the pacing is uneven, and the whole thing wraps up far too neatly. I don't mind a neat ending, actually (huge Dickens fan!), but there wasn't enough groundwork laid for this one. It's nice that Freak's family problems vanish in a puff of money, but alcoholism and domestic violence are usually more entrenched than that. Those are the kinds of flaws I don't expect to see in a serious Newbery contender.
But they are excusable in a darkly funny sci-fi summer read, and that is squarely where I would place Sofa. I'll also be keeping an eye out for Henry Clark's next books - there's lots of talent and potential here.
July 5, 2013
This story was a combination of fantastical elements and elements common to all middle schoolers. It had a couch with dragon feet that could tesser (Loved the shout out to A Wrinkle in Time!), a talking domino, an inside out universe, and a villain who wants to use mind control enhanced by cell phones and snack food to take over the world. It also had an orphaned main character, a color blind main character who loved science, and a main character who was dealing with an alcoholic and angry father.
River, Freak and Fiona are the only kids still living in an abandoned subdivision. An underground coal fire has made the area dangerous. When they come upon an old sofa outside an old and scary mansion, they don't imagine that they will soon be involved with trying to save the world.
I liked the sly humor that permeated this story. I also liked River's thoughtful narration. I liked the way he was equally accepting of the magical sofa and his own state as an orphan. He was a typical middle schooler cycling by the moment from child to young adult. He was also courageous and intelligent.
The plot which involved a rare zucchini color crayon and a villain with Compulsive Completist Disorder which compels him to drop his plans of world conquest to complete his collections. The story is filled with action that will appeal to middle schoolers. From exploring the dangerous Hellsboro with its underground coal fires to runaway hot air balloons, the action never stops.
I think this book will appeal to many upper elementary and middle school students.
River, Freak and Fiona are the only kids still living in an abandoned subdivision. An underground coal fire has made the area dangerous. When they come upon an old sofa outside an old and scary mansion, they don't imagine that they will soon be involved with trying to save the world.
I liked the sly humor that permeated this story. I also liked River's thoughtful narration. I liked the way he was equally accepting of the magical sofa and his own state as an orphan. He was a typical middle schooler cycling by the moment from child to young adult. He was also courageous and intelligent.
The plot which involved a rare zucchini color crayon and a villain with Compulsive Completist Disorder which compels him to drop his plans of world conquest to complete his collections. The story is filled with action that will appeal to middle schoolers. From exploring the dangerous Hellsboro with its underground coal fires to runaway hot air balloons, the action never stops.
I think this book will appeal to many upper elementary and middle school students.
August 5, 2015
I loved, loved, LOOOOOVED this book! "What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World" is an exceptional blend of adventure, mystery, science-fiction, realism, humor, and heart, and they're all woven together like the upholstery on the sofa shown on the cover to create something that's entirely awesome. In this book, three young friends, River, Freak, and Fiona discover a sofa mysteriously sitting by the side of the road near their bus stop and the rambling old Underhill House. On a whim, they search under its cushions and discover several peculiar items that will go on to be more important than they could have possibly dream them to be. I don't want to say much more in an attempt to leave you spoiler-free, but I will say that this book was one of my favorite summer reads and I imagine it'll be one of the frontrunners for Missouri's Mark Twain Award this year!
October 11, 2015
When a bedraggled couch appears on the roadside by River's bus stop, he decides to examine the contents before it is hauled away. With his two friends Freak and Fiona, the trio find a brand new Zucchini colored crayon which turns out to be worth thousands of dollars. What River and his friends don't know is that this crayon is about to set them on a path of adventure and discovery, unveiling a cast of otherworldly beings and an evil mastermind bent on exhausting Earth's resources.
I kinda became obsessed while reading this. The snarky humor is full of wit and one-liners without feeling egotistical and the plot moves fluidly and is full of action. This book would make an excellent introduction to science fiction.
Kids seeking fresh, quick, witty humor with an alien takeover, check this one out!
Reviewed by: Miss Kelsey, Youth Services, Vernon Area Public Library
I kinda became obsessed while reading this. The snarky humor is full of wit and one-liners without feeling egotistical and the plot moves fluidly and is full of action. This book would make an excellent introduction to science fiction.
Kids seeking fresh, quick, witty humor with an alien takeover, check this one out!
Reviewed by: Miss Kelsey, Youth Services, Vernon Area Public Library
April 15, 2016
This book starts off well with 3 kids finding a sofa on the curb at a bus stop. They search it for contents and find a unique crayon. They try to sell it online and find it is really valuable. Feeling guilty that it belonged to someone else they go to the recluse old man who owned the sofa. This is where the story was lost on me. He's trying to enlist their help to stop the evil plot of big corporate greed. The town had a big chemical spill from a company and it covered it up saying it was a coal fire burning underground. Its a preachy big company vs the people environmental nightmare. The story then goes all weird involving outer space and portals and I just skipped to the end because it is way too long to read. My 11 year old who reads constantly got to the 5th chapter and declared it boring. She said she found a better book to read.
June 18, 2015
The story is thoroughly inventive; it takes quite the imagination to hatch a plot to takeover the world based on something found in a sofa. The characters are endearing, each with their own challenges that shape their actions. And some (younger) kids may really go for this. It is, after all, a rather fantastical adventure. So stop here if you want to read it.
Because, oh my, I could barely finish it. And I only did so because it was a book club book. It was definitely not my style with the far-fetched plot and extremely convenient coincidences that make these kids capable of stopping a billionaire alien. So. Many. Literary shortcuts. It's cute, it really is. But I really couldn't enjoy it fully there as it got close to the ending.
Because, oh my, I could barely finish it. And I only did so because it was a book club book. It was definitely not my style with the far-fetched plot and extremely convenient coincidences that make these kids capable of stopping a billionaire alien. So. Many. Literary shortcuts. It's cute, it really is. But I really couldn't enjoy it fully there as it got close to the ending.
July 21, 2013
What doesn't this book have? Adventure, friendship, evil corporations, toxic waste and a teleporting sofa
can all be found in this debut by Henry Clark. Three friends find an old sofa at the bus stop and uncover a variety of objects but most importantly a special crayon. That crayon leads them to a creepy mansion and its interesting owner who really is not from this world but from Indorsia. Freak, Fiona and River try to help save the world by eliminating the terrible Edward Disin and must cross into the toxic wasteland known as Hellsboro with the aid of a talking domino, a computer in a painting and a cat named Mucus. Summer reading doesn't get any more fun than this.
can all be found in this debut by Henry Clark. Three friends find an old sofa at the bus stop and uncover a variety of objects but most importantly a special crayon. That crayon leads them to a creepy mansion and its interesting owner who really is not from this world but from Indorsia. Freak, Fiona and River try to help save the world by eliminating the terrible Edward Disin and must cross into the toxic wasteland known as Hellsboro with the aid of a talking domino, a computer in a painting and a cat named Mucus. Summer reading doesn't get any more fun than this.
August 7, 2013
children's fiction/fantasy-adventure. This was okay, but maybe about 150-200 pages too long. I was getting really bored around p.200 (there were action sequences, but they didn't really serve to propel the story any further) so skipped ahead to read the last 50 pages or so, and sure enough didn't miss anything important, just filler. If I were a kid I probably would've stuck with it, but since I've read enough books to know there are better things out there, it didn't measure up as well. Still, I would recommend this as a read-aloud or to kids that, like I say, just want something to read and don't have discriminating tastes yet.
June 16, 2013
What a super fun science fiction book for middle grade readers! River, Freak, and Fiona find a random sofa by their bus stop, which starts them on an incredible journey to save not only their town, but the entire Earth. The good guys are never flawless, though the bad guys remain truly evil, in this exciting adventure. A computer embedded in a variety of inanimate objects helps them become a team and work together as they aliens in the form of a super corporation hoping to enslave the earth. Recommended for grades 5 - 8.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
June 29, 2013
A fun, laugh out loud at times, sci fi middle grade romp. At times I had trouble following what was happening during some of the action sequences. This book also seemed to suffer a bit from trying too hard. All of the main characters were dealing with at least one death in their family, another from abuse/alcoholism, and there was typical middle school drama on top of that. The juxtaposition with the silliness of the story seemed jarring at times.
This reminded me a lot of "The True Meaning of Smekday" by Adam Rex.
This reminded me a lot of "The True Meaning of Smekday" by Adam Rex.
July 24, 2013
Wonderful :) 4.5 stars. Great sci-fi for kids who don't think they like sci-fi. AND funny.
Also worth noting that one of the characters' father is an alcoholic and that impacts his life. It's not heavy-handedly talked about and , and I think kids could miss it if it's just not something they're aware of, but I appreciate it when people mention things like this in reviews, so I figured I'd do the same :)
Also worth noting that one of the characters' father is an alcoholic and that impacts his life. It's not heavy-handedly talked about and , and I think kids could miss it if it's just not something they're aware of, but I appreciate it when people mention things like this in reviews, so I figured I'd do the same :)
December 9, 2015
I don't usually like quirky, silly sci-fi, but this book made me laugh so many times that I couldn't help but give it 4 stars. The premise is pretty funny--three kids find a green crayon in a maybe-some-kind-of-intergalactic sofa, and this discovery leads to mystery, hijinks, and the fate of Earth as we know it. Clean and great for kids, but so hilarious.
January 13, 2016
This has to have been the best book about middle schoolers for middle schoolers I've read in a LONG time. It was deliciously quirky, it was smart, and even the middle school potty humor was hilarious rather than obnoxious. The main characters were believable and relatable and likable and I loved every minute of this book.
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