Customer Reviews

Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware (Pals in Peril Tale)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the third book in M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales series. The first two, Whales On Stilts and The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen, were wacky with silliness. I enjoyed them, even though it's not my favorite kind of humor.

The Flame Pits of Delaware is in the same vein - much silliness with crazy characters, lots of unpredictable plot twists, and purposely contrived situations. It's a story to be taken lightly, and it helps to check your idea of reality at the front door.

Even though I did this, I didn't like Flame Pits as much as the other two, and that's mostly because of the length. I can only take so much mindless silliness, and I'd reached my limit about two thirds of the way through.

Also, there were a few odd things added, like conflict between the main characters, and the beginnings of a love interest. Those elements felt strange, because this kind of story isn't meant to delve into typical kid problems. Stories like this work best when it's a good, plain adventure, like the first two. As a result, this story was just okay. For me, anyway.

Still, I can see middle grade kids going for a book like this, though even they also might prefer a shorter version.

I'm not sure why those who did not enjoy this book describe it as overlong or unplotted or poorly written. I suspect that the majority of Anderson's wit went right over their heads. I found it to be a complete delight, giddy in its determined inventiveness and rapturous in its assault on the world of children's series.

Nearly every page contained a sly reference to some great children's book or other cultural signpost. (In the description of Lily's boring town, there was even a reference to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"!) And Anderson's loopy, grotesquely exotic world of Delaware was hysterical from beginning to end.

I was astonished at the end of the book, during the celebration at the monastery, when the narrator turned rhapsodic about joy and the sense of place. For a book that had kept me laughing out loud for the majority of its pages, I was surprised to be brought to tears.

Those who suggest that the author of "Feed" and "Octavian Nothing" has come up short in this book have failed to get the point themselves. This book is a fine work, one of dense style perhaps, but a huge reward to those who are willing to submerse themselves in Anderson's subversive world.

A mixed bag of tricks, PALS IN PERIL: JASPER DASH AND THE FLAME-PITS OF DELAWARE has its funny moments and its tedious moments. The extended opening sequence -- a stare contest called Stare-Eyes -- runs 92 pages and sets up the action in Delaware. We also get a lot of illustrations, sight gags, and funny footnotes. For instance, on p. 79, a footnote about an ancient concrete bunker finishes with the lines: "There were probably routes to places like the Diamond Realm and the Court of the Fungus Lords. But that's not what this book's about. It's about Stare-Eyes. Okay? All right? If you're so bloody interested in the bunkers, why don't you go write a story about them yourself?"

Later, in Chapter 33, we get more fun and games in the form of the author guest-starring in his own book. Here M.T. Anderson writes, "I am afraid that now comes the part in the novel of foreign adventure that I really can't stand. We have a lull in the action, so the characters get informative about local industries: weaving, pottery, major imports and exports, farming techniques, etc." More? Whole pages will be taken up with one word (e.g. BAM!) or by words moving up and down (as opposed to the garden-variety left-to-right, I mean).

Does it work? To a point. At 423 pp., JASPER DASH's silliness begins to age a bit. The plot gets lost now and again, too. Not that this is terribly important. What's more important is why M.T. Anderson, who puts out such outstanding books as FEED and OCTAVIAN NOTHING, is slumming like this. I know, I know. Have fun. Get silly. And don't worry about it (Jasper Dash's laser will come to your rescue... Dover and Out).

When my kids were in this age group, the way they picked out new books was by looking at the cover illustration of the book to see if it interested them. If your kid chooses books this way, Pals in Peril is a sure winner.

As for the book itself, M.T. Anderson has a fun, witty writing style. The brunt of the author's humor in this book is the State of Delaware, which will probably go over an average 9-12 year old's head, but which I found to be quite humorous (see Delaware Governor's hilarious response on the Simon & Schuster kids book website).

The book starts out slowly, but does start to pick up once the book gets to the Stare-Eyes contest (around page 48). The book is about gangsters and has dragons, magic, ray guns, vaultapulting, multi-eyed octopi, and people with weird names. If your kid can get past the fact that this is a thick book (417 pages), then he/she should have fun reading it because it is filled with funny "fantastical" things, irreverent footnotes and fun illustrations. This is a series book, so if your kid likes it, then there will be more to read (always a bonus).

4 stars only because the book thickness may be too intimidating for some young readers.

Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware is pretty darn silly. And I mean that in a good way.

Could it be shorter? Sure. It's the sort of thing that's fun to pick up every now and then, read a few chapters, then put down again for a while. It is, as another reviewer noted, non-stop parody. That can make you sleepy after a while, no doubt about it.

On the other hand, it's really really really fun.

Here's the opening paragraph:

When Lily Gefelty got out of bed on the morning of the big game, she looked out the window to see what kind of a day it was going to be. She discovered that it was the kind of day when a million beetles crawl out of the ground and swarm the streets, forecasting evil.

-----

And, just a couple of pages later:

"Oh, lordy," said Katie. "I hope that these beetles aren't signs of a coming evil."
"Hello, chums!" called out Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut, crunching across the school lawn in Wellington boots. "What-ho and tippy tippy dingle and all."
"Eww, Jasper," said Katie, "you're crunching on june bugs."
Jasper inspected the soles of his boots. "Aha," he said. "I had noticed a jaunty crispness to my stride this morning."

-----

That's the kind of book it is. The author interrupts the story to talk directly to the readers. There are occasional, funny pictures. Bugs are stepped upon.

Hey... it made me laugh. That can't be all bad, can it?

My 13 year old daughter loved this book. She read the whole series of Pals in Peril. She liked the adventure in them and the suspense. This book is probably appropriate for age 10 and up.

If you are a fan of M. T. Anderson, you've got to read JASPER DASH AND THE FLAME-PITS OF DELAWARE. Mr. Anderson writes such gripping historical fiction such as the OCTAVIAN NOTHING titles, unforgettable young adult fiction in FEED, and now, another PALS IN PERIL TALE - entertaining, exciting, and yet thought-provoking material for our younger readers. There is a sense of authorial glee in this book that's almost palpable.

Jasper Dash is once again off to solve a dastardly mystery. This time it's the Stare-Eyes team from Delaware that has tricks that neither Jasper nor his teammates can beat. One by one, they are left beaten and slack-jawed. Shaken, Jasper meets his opponent. Just as he thinks he may have him beat, a voice from his past calls out for help. Before the day is out, Jasper and his friends are in route to Delaware aboard their Gyroscopic Sky Suite.

Let me warn you. When you enter this world...when you enter the mind of the author, nothing will be as expected. Bugs crawl across pages. Spoons stick out of buildings, and indeed, even provide transport. Mountains appear out of nowhere, flying dinosaurs hovering nearby. You'll meet characters without vowels; no one is as they seem. Except, of course, our amazing, dashing young hero, Jasper Dash: Boy Technonaut, and his friends, Lily and Katie.

The narrator tells his story in an off-handish, by-the-way, and did-I-remember-to-tell-you style. His amusing footnotes provide additional entertainment for the advanced reader. That reader who can totally see himself fighting the tentacled monster right alongside Jasper. That reader who fancies himself as the monk, crouched in the closet with the hungry tiger, looking for a board game to help him escape. Only a reader with vision, imagination, and a hunger for adventure will venture into this wacky, fun, yet dangerous world. And yes, I think so, I believe it to be true...that reader is you!

For moms and dads out there who like to read what their child is reading, there's humor here for you, as well. Innuendos that will quite go over the head of most children. JASPER DASH AND THE FLAME-PITS OF DELAWARE reminds me of other iconic reads, such as ALICE IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll, and perhaps even more so, THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer. This book is loads of fun, a regular romp in the world of make-believe. Every child's fantasy.

Take a load off from the stress of school, pull out your flashlight, burrow in under your tent of sheets and blankets and take a trip into the extraordinary. Into the Flame-Pits of Delaware. You'll be glad you did.

Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

You really have to be over 50 to appreciate the plot of this book (or a old time SF geek).
If you were so lucky as to be a 12 year old kid in 1920 and hung off of the words of Edgar Rice Burroughs' fiction you will understand this book completely. Otherwise required reading might be John Carter of Mars, A Princess of Mars and, so on. Jasper Dash is obviously modeled off of a 1920's pulp fiction character and in keeping with this theme the book is modeled off of the same genre.
Fortunately the book is entertaining on its own but, I will admit the style can be a bit tedious all at once.
I got the book read by Mark Cashman ( Cashman is brilliant at the voices) on CD for my nine year old daughter who loved Whales on Stilts and Lederhosen (...she was a nun, she was a nanny, we thought she could fly...) and I must admit that it took a couple of listens before I really started to enjoy it thoroughly. She however is not affected by the style and regularly adds it to her list of spoken books that she chooses. So perhaps over 50 or under 16 is more appropriate.

I've read several of M. T. Anderson's books now, and I'm amazed at the depth he can maneuver in literary waters. He can write intriguing fantasy stories, nonsensical adventure stories that belong in the pulps, and serious historical fiction for kids.

Jasper Dash is definitely a fun book. You can see that from the cover. The prose is easy to read, the adventure is fun to bang through, and the sensibility is that of a Tom Swift adventure on speed. This is one of those books that I'll have to read to my 12 year old. I wish I'd known that at the beginning. I would have stopped reading, but school's going now,and the book was just too easy to read.

The black and white illustrations throughout are a lot of fun as well.

According to M. T. Anderson's latest inspired bit of lunacy, that would be a blrga-shirt and pochbtvms, traditional dress of Dover (see illus. by Kurt Cyrus on page 130).

I had resigned myself to loving this book because I had loved the previous two books in this series: Whales on Stilts and The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen, but I did worry about what the author was going to do with all the extra pages, this book being twice as long as the first one and half again as long as the second one. As it turned out, he used the extra space to produce arguably the craziest travel novel ever published, depicting "the jungles and mountains, the beaches and subaquatic cities, the volcanoes and ziggurats, the deserts, caverns, lost temples, and spires... of Delaware," defended it by claiming complete ignorance of Delaware except for twenty minutes he once spent on the tollway from New Jersey to Maryland, and urged any readers who questioned his description to write to the Governor of Delaware at the address he helpfully provided.

Note: Delaware Governor Jack Markell deserves some kudos for reacting to this lunacy with good humor; his letter in response, currently available on the publisher's web site, is funny enough that it ought to be included in future editions. I'd also like to hear a recording of M. T. Anderson's crazed replacement for the official state song.

I'm forced to admit that I consider this to be the best of these books so far. Either Mr. Anderson is betting better, or my standards are starting to slip because now IMHO Mr. Anderson is fully three quarters as funny as he thinks he is. In addition the characterization is becoming more realistic,...

relatively speaking.

I've never been to Delaware. My father was born there, and from his description, it didn't sound that interesting, but now I might just have to visit. If I do, I'm taking this book along and bringing it into the first Delaware Visitor's Center I see...

just to see if their sense of humor matches the governor's.