Love Among the Walnuts: or, How I Saved My Family from Being Poisoned [Mass Market Paperback]

Jean Ferris (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Sandy Huntington-Ackerman didn't expect life to be a free ride (even though his parents are multimillionaires). He certainly didn't expect his two money-grubbing uncles to try to kill his family with a drugged birthday cake. Luckily for Sandy, the cake only sends his parents (and their pet chicken, Attila) into a coma. Along with a loyal butler and a wacky nurse from the asylum next door, Sandy is determined to bring the scoundrels to justice-if he's not the next to go! This "rollicking screwball-comedy of a story" (The Horn Book) is just right for fans of Holes and The Westing Game.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a fabulous book! -- VOYA

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (January 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141310995
• ISBN-13: 978-0141310992
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,056,799 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pet Chickens, and Poison Cake, November 22, 2005

By 

vtown (Versailles, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Among the Walnuts: or, How I Saved My Family from Being Poisoned (Mass Market Paperback)

Horatio Alger Huntington-Ackerman is a billionaire living in a huge mansion with his wife Mousey, and his son Sandy, isolated from the real world. Horatio's two brothers, Bart, and Bernie are jealous of Horatio's fortune. They know that if they could wipe out his family, and his butler, Bently, the fortune would be theirs. Bart and Bernie come to the mansion for their monthly dinner with a birthday cake. Everyone except Sandy, and Bently eat some of the cake. The next day, Sandy wakes up to find that everyone, including his pet chicken, was in a coma. Sandy and Bently do some research, and discover that the cake Bart and Bernie brought was poisoned. The only problem is, Bently disposed of the cake before they could get evidence to the police. Now Sandy and Bently will have to find proof that his uncles poisoned his parents, and try to survive their other attempts to kill them too.
This is a hilarious book dealing with family rivalries. I recommend this book to readers from 9-14. This book is well written and has a good plot!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nuts are Good!, January 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Love Among the Walnuts: or, How I Saved My Family from Being Poisoned (Mass Market Paperback)

I love the book Love Among the Walnuts by Jean Ferris because it is written so well. Ferris uses such detail and description to describe these characters and their surroundings. She puts a lot of humor into her stories and uses very descriptive words and phrases.
Sandy Huntington-Ackerman was living life on Easy Street. His parents were both multi-millionaires. He lived in a huge mansion about 40 miles outside of the town called Jupiter. The mansion is called Eclipse. One day, Sandy's uncles, Bart and Bernie, try to poison the entire family so they can get all of the money that belongs to Sandy's father, Horatio. Luckily they miscalculate and it only sends Sandy's parents, the cook, and their pet chicken Attila, into comas. Sandy doesn't want his parents to leave the house but the doctor says they have to go to a hospital.
Sandy finds out that the house that neighbors the Eclipse is called Walnut Manor and is a loony-bin. Sandy decides to send his parents, the cook, and Attila there but also hires an extra nurse named Sunnie. Bart and Bernie are furious when they find out that Horatio is still alive, even though incapacitated at the moment, and Sandy is still alive and kicking. They try to make another attempt on Sandy's life but with the help of his loyal butler, the nurse Sunnie, and the inmates from Walnut Manor, Sandy will try his best to send those creeps to jail.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a ride!, March 1, 2002

By 

"heatherveritas" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Among the Walnuts: or, How I Saved My Family from Being Poisoned (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow, Jean Ferris must have some imagination! They book flies with you and you just can't put it down! It definitley deserves more than 5 stars!

Horatio Alger Hungtington-Ackerman has a fortune. Because of his great amounts of money, his two brothers bond in mutual envy. They bring a poisonous cake to dinner one night, and Horatio and his wife Mousey fall into comas. (So does their pet chicken, the subject of many experiments.) Lucky for Mousey and Horatio, their son is there to save the day. If he only knew what to do next. Mousey and Horatio are forced to recieve medicial care, so they are transfered to Walnut Manor, the "loony bin" next door. With the help of his crazy butler, and the not-quite-right residents of Walnut Manor, Sandy eventually saves the day.

The book was hilarious and very compelling. I just couldn't wait to find out what was the next plan of revenge that Sandy's uncles would attempt. I could definitley picture this book as a great movie. I can't wait to read another book by this obviously fantastic author!