Reviews for Whales on Stilts!
Review - Whales on Stilts!
Why I read the book: I’m not sure where I found out about it. It was just sitting there on my list of books to look for at the library. (And in case you’re wondering, this is not a list of books that I have to read or anything like it. It’s just a list of books that I pick up at the library and decide on the spot whether I want to read. Really. There’s no commitment whatsoever.)
What the book was about: It was a parody of old series books — Tom Swift, Nancy Drew and so forth.
On career day, Lily Gefelty visits her dad’s work at an abandoned warehouse that makes stilts for whales. She accidentally discovers that Larry, her dad’s boss, plans on taking over the world. She can’t get anyone to believe her except her two best friends, Jasper Dash (Boy Technonaut) and Katie Mulligan, both of whom have their own series of adventure books and fan clubs.
On schedule, Larry’s scheme of world domination is set in motion. He plans on unleashing a pod of whales on stilts with laser-beam eyes. But Lily has come up with a plan to thwart him — while Jasper knocks out Larry’s remote control center, Lily and Katie distract the whales with recordings of their own voices. This makes the whales head back out to sea and saves the world.
What I liked about the book: It was clever and laugh-out-loud funny in a couple places.
What I didn’t like about the book: The humor was forced at times, and the resolution of the plot, even in the context of a nonsensical book, was lame.
The most interesting quote: Here are some examples of the sort of thing the book is filled with:
“Good morning, Jill,” he said. “How are things today?”
“I’m okay, I guess,” said the receptionist. “Except I’m having pains in my knees from doing something stupid with a big round of cheese.”
As you can see, this could be very dangerous.
It was even more dangerous, in fact, than Lily and her friends knew. Why?
I’ll tell you.*
*Are you grateful? If so, I like carrot cake.
Far out at sea, a foghorn sounds.
It is not a foggy night, but the lighthouse keeper promised her grandson he could pull the horn once if he was good at dinner.
Recommendation: If you ever read adventure series for kids, and if you have a sense of humor and the ability to just relax for the hour it takes to read the book, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you only care for serious fare, you’re out of luck.
What the book was about: It was a parody of old series books — Tom Swift, Nancy Drew and so forth.
On career day, Lily Gefelty visits her dad’s work at an abandoned warehouse that makes stilts for whales. She accidentally discovers that Larry, her dad’s boss, plans on taking over the world. She can’t get anyone to believe her except her two best friends, Jasper Dash (Boy Technonaut) and Katie Mulligan, both of whom have their own series of adventure books and fan clubs.
On schedule, Larry’s scheme of world domination is set in motion. He plans on unleashing a pod of whales on stilts with laser-beam eyes. But Lily has come up with a plan to thwart him — while Jasper knocks out Larry’s remote control center, Lily and Katie distract the whales with recordings of their own voices. This makes the whales head back out to sea and saves the world.
What I liked about the book: It was clever and laugh-out-loud funny in a couple places.
What I didn’t like about the book: The humor was forced at times, and the resolution of the plot, even in the context of a nonsensical book, was lame.
The most interesting quote: Here are some examples of the sort of thing the book is filled with:
“Good morning, Jill,” he said. “How are things today?”
“I’m okay, I guess,” said the receptionist. “Except I’m having pains in my knees from doing something stupid with a big round of cheese.”
As you can see, this could be very dangerous.
It was even more dangerous, in fact, than Lily and her friends knew. Why?
I’ll tell you.*
*Are you grateful? If so, I like carrot cake.
Far out at sea, a foghorn sounds.
It is not a foggy night, but the lighthouse keeper promised her grandson he could pull the horn once if he was good at dinner.
Recommendation: If you ever read adventure series for kids, and if you have a sense of humor and the ability to just relax for the hour it takes to read the book, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you only care for serious fare, you’re out of luck.
Reviewed by Roger on 2006-07-26 13:19:08