Customer Reviews

Attack of the Killer Potatoes

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I've never been a big fan of the Scholastic formulaic offerings, and this one has all the usual conventions. Arnold's the bright twelve year old who tries to stay out of trouble but is always drawn into sticky situations by his incorrigible friend. Max, the friend who lives upstairs in the apartment building, is forever the jokester, the instigator, the inveterate troublemaker. Courtney, Arnold's tween sister, is the goody two shoes, the name caller, the spoiler, and mom's eyes and ears. Rounding up the characters are the busy scientist mom, the clueless, cooking dad, the sinister scientist and his henchman, and of course, the one dimensional Chief of Police Crenshaw.

I would have liked to have seen a few illustrations in the book, perhaps at the beginning of most chapters. The short chapters are great for reading between classes, on the school bus, in the cafeteria, or even during science class.

The writer does an excellent job creating suspense, ending almost every chapter with a device intended to instill suspense and motivate the reader to read further. Chapters end with questions, foreshadowing, hints of an imminent revelation, characters in danger or predicaments, conflict, doubt and other types of suspense tools. Because the chapters are so short, it's easy to convince oneself to read "one more chapter."

This first person account is written in a casual style from Arnold's perspective. Kids relate to kid narrators. Even in my juvenile persona the excessive use of sentence fragments and corny, trite similes annoyed me. Max's constant wise cracking, rule breaking, and general lack of respect for authority also irked me. Maybe that's because as a juvenile I was ALWAYS the model student and good citizen.

The author's use of words such as snot, booger, and humongous probably appeals to his target audience. His page and a half dialogue between the kids and the crooks, ala the classic Abbot and Costello "Who's on First sketch, didn't tickle my funny bone.

Attack of the Killer Potatoes is a silly, preposterous book, its plot driven by flat, stereotyped characters, its dialogue rife with clichés and trite similes, its essence never to be mistaken for great literature. The author's intent is not to impress or showcase his literary skills, but rather to entertain and motivate young readers. Some might even absorb a subconscious lesson about the consequences of stealing, rule breaking, or not listening to Mom. I think this is a worthwhile book for fourth through eighth graders with its reasonable vocabulary choices, engaging plot, and most importantly, its POTATO theme.