Friday, March 27, 2015

Space Case by Stuart Gibbs

Mystery fans - have I got a book for you!

Science fans - have I got a book for you!

And it's the same book.

Space Case is an exciting murder mystery set on the moon.  Twelve-year-old Dashiell Gibson and his family are among the first families to live on Moon Base Alpha, the world's first human moon colony.  Carefully screened and chosen from thousands of applicants, the first inhabitants of Moon Base Alpha were promised the adventure of a lifetime, along with all the comforts of home.  According to The Official Residents' Guide to Moon Base Alpha, life on the moon might even be better than life back home!

Sounds like a great opportunity, right?  Turns out, the reality is not what the guide promises.  Flying real (i.e. comfortable) furniture to the moon is too expensive and impractical, so most of the furniture is inflatable.  All the food is dehyradted (and disgusting), and the toilets!  Well, you can read the book to find out about the toilets (but eliminating waste in low-gravity requires some interesting technology).

But for Dash, it's the boredom that's the worst part.  There aren't many other kids around, the Base is small, and since the lunar surface can be deadly, children aren't even allowed out of the base for a low-gravity romp on the moon.  What's the point of living on the moon, for goodness sake?

Things change, though, when one of the lunar scientists turns up dead.  Dash suspects foul play, but has a hard time getting anyone - even his own parents - to believe him.  It's up to Dash to investigate the possible murder before the killer strikes again.

The author, Stuart Gibbs, has crafted an excellent murder mystery.  Many residents of the base had both motive and opportunity to kill the scientist, but who would actually do it?  You'll be guessing right up until the very end (I know I was), and the "big reveal" is one of the most satisfying endings I've read in a long time.

Seriously, how much better than a murder mystery on the moon can it get?  Check out Space Case, it's an ingenious, well-paced thriller, that's literally out of this world!

Friday, March 13, 2015

The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater

This was another selection read by the Council of Book Readers.*

Everyone on the Council really enjoyed it, but we all agree it's REALLY hard to describe. Set in the years just following World War II,  The Neddiad follows the adventures of Neddie Wentworthstein as he is called upon to save the world.  For Neddie is the guy with the sacred turtle.  And the guy with the sacred turtle always saves the world.

It starts out simply enough: Neddie and his father (who live in Chicago at the outset of the book) both really want to eat at the famous Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, California.  Since Mr. Wentworthstein made a fortune during the war selling shoe-laces to the US military, the family simply decides to move to Hollywood, so they can eat at the Brown Derby - a restaurant shaped like a hat!

There are crazy, wacky adventures a-plenty along the way, but it's when Neddie finally arrives in Hollywood that things really start getting weird.  There are ghosts, demons, elephants, mastodons, school bullies, shamans, movie stars and space police, and ... well, too many wacky characters along the way.  There's a circus, a private school, a reproduction of the Roman Colloseum, and - most importantly - the La Brea Tar Pits (which, translated, is actually "the the tar tar pits"!)  I told you it was hard to describe!

If you're looking for humor, surprises, twists and turns, and a cavalcade of interesting characters, you should have a look at The Neddiad.  The Council of Book Readers thought it was "funny," "surprising," "weird," and "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (because such a weird book can only be described with a weird word!)


*the Council of Book Readers will next meet on Friday, May 8th at 4:00pm.  We'll be discussing A Whole Nother Story by Cuthbert Soup.  Give it a read (it's another wacky one) and come join the fun!