The Meanwhile Adventures [Hardcover]

Roddy Doyle (Author), Brian Ajhar (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

The triumphant finale to Roddy Doyle's hilarious Mack Family tales, released in the same season as his sequel to A STAR CALLED HENRY, his best-selling book for adults.

Mr. Mack’s been arrested for a small misunderstanding at the bank (involving a saw inconveniently shaped like a machine gun.) Billie Jean Fleetwood-Mack has disappeared (off on an attempt to become the first woman to circle the globe without telling anyone.) So it’s up to the Mack kids Jimmy, Robbie and Kayla (and Rover the jaded wonder-dog) to save their family and the world from bullying prison guards, nasty orphan catchers and an army of ill-mannered slugs.

As funny as THE GIGGLER TREATMENT, as snarky as ROVER SAVES CHRISTMAS, and as brilliant as only Roddy Doyle can be.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-An award-winning adult author misses the mark with this frenetic children's fantasy. Fired from his job as a biscuit (cookie) taster, Mister Mack decides to become a mad inventor and is mistakenly arrested as a bank robber. Meanwhile, his sons Robbie and Jimmy try to break him out of jail. Meanwhile, their mother is trying to break the women's record for running around the world. Meanwhile, four-year old sister, Kayla, and her friend Victoria set out after Mom, accompanied by canine entrepreneur Rover. The book switches dizzyingly among the four stories, with occasional startling digressions including an army of militant slugs trying to take over the planet. The puckish creatures from Doyle's The Giggler Treatment (Scholastic, 2000) make a return appearance, still pursuing their mission of depositing dog "poo" in the paths of grown-up evildoers. There is considerable insult dialogue and body-function humor. The black-and-white drawings, featuring wide staring eyes and quizzical expressions, are amusing if a trifle unsettling. The disparate stories finally link up, more or less, but by that point, most readers won't care.–Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6. Doyle brings back pretty much the same cast of characters from The Giggler Treatment (2002), although without the Gigglers, for another adventure in high silliness and postmodern storytelling. The involved plot centers around the false arrest of Mr. Mack and efforts by his children and dog to free him, while his wife tries to be the first Irish woman to run around the world without telling anyone. Short chapters keep the multiple story lines moving, with occasional interruptions for the writer to get a cup of coffee and the dog to take over the word processor and attempt to send the plot in a different direction. Ajhar's pencil drawings add to the manic humor. Lots of silly fun, delivering plenty of laughs to young readers. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic; First Edition edition (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439662109
• ISBN-13: 978-0439662109
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,086,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Roddy Doyle is the author of eight novels, a collection of stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir of his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. He lives and works in Dublin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh what wonderful nonsense!, January 27, 2005

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Meanwhile Adventures (Hardcover)

Oh what wonderful nonsense! Mister Mack has invented a saw that looks like a machine gun, and was arrested after taking it into a bank! Mrs. Mack (actually Billie Jean Fleetwood-Mack) cannot be reached as she is presently trying to set a record by circling the globe. Little Kayla Mack and her friend Victoria have taken off on her talking dog to track down her mother, while Robbie and Jimmy Mack have set out to burrow into prison to rescue their father. Oh, yeah, and the narrator keeps getting into arguments with the reader. Yep, it's a right mess, and a lot of fun!

This book is quite a fun little find. The author, Roddy Doyle lives in Dublin, Ireland, and has spun out a wonderful little book of nonsense, that takes the reader around the world, with his head spinning the whole time! Yep, if you have a young reader (8-10, I would recommend), then get him or her this book, and your young reader will enjoy it as much as mine did. Highly recommended!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Who Are You?", March 7, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Meanwhile Adventures (Hardcover)

"Who are you?" "Batteries included." I hope you have time to read this book because you will never put it down.

The Meanwhile Adventures is a funny , but exciting story. This book takes you to a silly family that does some amusing things.

The message is that a funny family like this can be a little bit of trouble sometimes.

I think this book is one of the funniest stories Roddy Doyle has ever written.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They loved her so much they knew exactly what she meant, July 11, 2008

By 

Steve Baxter "Edmund OConnell" (Portsmouth, RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meanwhile Adventures (Paperback)

Forget what I have to say, seeing as how I am far from being a kid. Let me tell you what my 8-yr-old hard-sell granddaughter had to say after I read her the first five sentences, "Really? It says that? Can I read it?"

Then, as she read, "This is great! I never read anything like this."

She carried that book with her, laughing, quoting from it, until she finished it the next day, then started over, more laughter, and then eagerly sharing it with her BFFs. Her review went something like this.

"This guy really knows that it is a kid reading the book..."

"How does he think this stuff up? I love the little girl, the one who can only say 'Who are you?' but everyone loves her so much they know exactly what she means, even if she means 'turn left after this corner'..."

And on and on. She will wear the print off the page with her eyes by the time she is finished with this book.

You can't ask much more from a book that a child love it and wants to share it and gets more from each reading (meaning they are reaching, it's not easy.)