Herbert's Wormhole [Hardcover]

Peter Nelson (Author), Rohitash Rao (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2009 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Greetings. This story concerns a scientific anomaly that opens a portal, allowing us to traverse the space-time continuum and triggering an adventure that those of limited intelligence might simply describe as "awesome."

Hey! This is a book about how we get sucked into this wormhole thingy and it drops us in the future where there's all this really cool futuristic stuff, but also these super-freaky aliens and we mess everything up and have to save the world. How awesome is that?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

More text-heavy than the subtitle suggests, this loopy debut opens as Alex's well-meaning parents buy the 10-year-old a jungle gym. They also arrange a playdate ("Playdate? Alex hadn't had a playdate since he was seven") with neighbor Herbert, a compulsive inventor, who tinkers with the body suits that came with his AlienSlayer:3-D! video game. When he and Alex wear the suits on the jungle gym, the tubular slide becomes a wormhole that catapults them 100 years into the future. Their hometown is now inhabited by G'Daliens, aliens that speak with Australian accents and resemble giant squid wearing toupees and fake mustaches, a sight the boys find "fall-down, pee-in-your-pants hilarious." The cartoony line art and wacky futuristic particulars should appeal most to readers whose sense of humor tends toward the absurd. Ages 8-12.
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From School Library Journal

Grade 3–7—Soon-to-be sixth-grader Alex loves video games and longs to own AlienSlayer: 3-D!, which comes with a holographic-projection unit and two motion-sensor suits. But Alex's parents have other ideas: there's a new jungle gym in the yard and his mother has planned a "playdate" with Herbert, an inventor/genius. To his horror, Alex discovers that his nerdy neighbor has "modified" two AlienSlayer: 3-D! suits. However, instead of allowing their wearers to pass through objects as planned, the suits somehow transform Alex's slide into a wormhole that transports the boys 100 years into the future. There, G'Daliens—squidlike aliens who wear toupees—have taken over Earth, with mostly positive results. But one extraterrestrial is bent on proving just how stupid and unnecessary humans are and tries to ruin the fragile peace between the two species. Now, through a series of gaffs and mishaps, it's up to Alex and Herbert to save the world. With its amusing cartoon drawings and zany adventures, this is sure to be a hit with reluctant readers. The numerous illustrations are integral to the story, adding detail and keeping the action moving quickly. The plot is slight, but readers won't care. Give this to kids who have moved beyond "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) but want something just as silly and funny.—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061688681
• ISBN-13: 978-0061688683
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,172,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, August 12, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Herbert's Wormhole (Hardcover)

Alex wants to spend his summer playing video games, but his parents have other plans. They've built a (babyish) jungle gym and set up a play date with nerdy science kid, Herbert.

Herbert has spent his summer building a Negative Energy Densifier Suit. When the suits are worn by the boys on Alex's new jungle gym, they open a wormhole to the future. Only in this future, aliens called G'daliens have taken over. They all seem friendly enough, except for GOR-DON, who wants the boys destroyed. Now it's up to Alex and Herbert to save the future.

I loved HERBERT'S WORMHOLE. It's the perfect blend of cartoons and novel that readers of all ages will be sure to enjoy. The story is fast-paced and reads like an adventure/science fiction novel, but even if you're not typically a fan of those genres, I would try picking this one up. It's so full of humor, you'll be laughing the whole time.

I would give this to any reader who is looking for something to hold them over until the next DIARY OF A WIMPY KID book is released. Soon, they'll be asking for more adventures of Herbert and Alex.

Reviewed by: Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars G'day mates...review written by 10 year old boy., August 8, 2009

By 

Redlady (http://redladysreadingroom-redlady.blogspot.com/) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Herbert's Wormhole (Hardcover)

Review written by my 10 year old son who read this book:

Herbert's Wormhole is about a boy traveling to the future. I loved the book and I hope that you do too. At the beginning, a boy named Alex a wanted a video game called Alien Slayer 2. So his parents gave in and bought it for him. Unfortunately, right after his parents bought Alien Slayer 2 Alien Slayer 3-D came out. In Alien Slayer 3-D it comes with all these cool swords and suits. He promised his parents that once he's finished with the game he will play out side for the rest of the summer. When he finished the game his mom sewed him a shirt that said I Love Slaying Aliens!

So, he put on the shirt and kept it on. His parents said they had a surprise for him outside. So he went out side and saw a jungle gym. He thought it was sorta babyish because he was going into 6th grade. Then his mom said he has to play with this kid named Herbert. Herbert is Alex's age and uses all these science words. Herbert has no friends. So Alex went inside Herbert's house to see if Hebert could play with him on his new jungle gym. When Alex walked in Herbert's room Alex was mad because Hebert got Alien Slayer 3-D and Herbert was taking it apart and making adjustments to two of the suits. For some reason Herbert and Alex had the suits on. Alex was playing on the jungle gym and Herbert was trying to walk through the fence. Suddenly, Alex accidentally hit a switch on the suit and Alex was getting sucked through the slide. Herbert was shouting at him to turn it off but it was to late. After they got sucked up by the slide they somehow ended up one hundred years later where G'daliens are friends with humans because they saved earth for them. Can Herbert and Alex get back to their normal time period or will they be stuck with G'daliens & not return home? Find out what will happen to them when you buy the book! G'day mates!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book, May 25, 2009

By 

dsg (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Herbert's Wormhole (Hardcover)

I have a 9-year-old boy and he absolutely loved this book. Truth be told, I loved it, too. It's funny, creative and completely unpredictable. My son's taste ranges from Captain Underpants (more vulgar than this) to Harry Potter (more serious than this). He stayed up late this past weekend to finish the book - he even set aside his latest Harry Potter to focus on this. He's not a big reader, so I'm always thrilled to find something he'll like. And if it's something I like, too, so much the better. I'd highly recommend this book for anyone with a boy or an adventurous girl - even reluctant readers will enjoy. Sequel?? Please tell me one is in the works...