Customer Reviews

More Adventures of the Great Brain

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

All summer I have been reading the Great Brain books that took place in Adenville, Utah in 1896. I liked the story in More Adventures of the Great Brain where the great brain makes the whole town believe that there is a monster in a place called Skeleton Cave. He did this because his friend Parley got a bowie knife for Christmas. Tom ( the Great Brain ) wanted Parley's knife, so Tom bet Parley his bb gun against Parley's knife that Parley would be too scared to meet Tom at Skeleton Cave at midnight the next night.
That night Tom made tracks that looked like monster footprints from Skeleton Cave to the river and back to the cave. The next day somebody saw the footprints and told the sheriff. Nobody was allowed to leave their houses until the monster was caught. Tom sneaked out of his house and went down to Skeleton Cave at midnight. Parley did not dare leave his house because of the monster. And he had to give his knife to Tom who usually gets money or toys when doing one of his swindles.
The reason that I like these books is because all of them are adventures and they are true.

Nathan D., age 12

I read these books as child by checking them out of a library. Now almost 20 years later, I have decided to reread them all starting from the beginning. While, the first book ends with T.D., aka the Great Brain, supposedly reformed, after he receives that shiny new bike for Christmas he's back at it again in More Adventures of the Great Brain. One of my favorite chapters in this book is the one about Old Butch because it shows T.D.'s feeling side and allows his character to have depth beyond his tricks. Much of this book is typical of the Great Brain and is good for some laughs. I recommend all the books of this series to children and adults alike.

I am surprised at the lack of attention the "Great Brain" series gets. There is a great charm to small town America which is represented in each book. Futher, the interplay between the "kill or be killed" attitude of Tom and the sweetness of his brother John makes for great reading. As well, young children learn the benefits and drawbacks of both attitudes. Truly a great read for kids and a great re-read for adults.

John Dennis Fitzgerald intended to chronicle his youth in Utah for adults, not children. His publisher thought otherwise and the result are these gems. I don't even call them children's lit gems because I find them just as enjoyable as an adult. Before I go on, you should know that Fitzgerald wrote one book about his youth that is for adults, called "Papa Married a Mormon". It is one of the most amazing books on the American west that I have ever read. Sadly, it is out of print, and you may, like me, have to pay an exorbitant sum to get a copy. Trust me, save up and do it. Now back to this book. Every single Great Brain book in the series is pure gold, and the entire set can be had cheaply, so I say buy them all at once. I "put my money where my mouth is" as Tom the Great Brain would say, and bought the lot.

Growing up, this series was my absolute favorite. The western themes, the sibling plots and the historical aspect of it kept me interested and kept me reading. The books stood on their own, but the characters developed from novel to novel. I read them in fourth grade, vigorously, and can not recommend them strongly enough.

It was the first real page-turned I ever came across.

This book was an adventurous, and exciting book. It always kept me off my seat, and always kept me wondering.

When we ordered More Adventures of the Great Brain, I couldn't wait to get it. When I finally read it, I really loved it. It has ghost stories, swindling and all sorts of stuff that make Great Brain books the way they are.

I've loved all the Great Brain books since I was a kid. I've read each many, many times even as an adult.

I used to read these books as a kid, but as the years passed, I kinda lost touch with them as things go and forgot about them until just recently when I remembered the delight of this childhood memory and decided to renew that memory by ordering the books one at a time until I finally own all seven.

I finished reading this book yesterday and enjoyed every page of it. The book falls on the adventures of two brothers in a small Utah settlement in the late 1890's, one of which tends to swindle money and belongings out of every boy in that town for his own personal enjoyment with his "Great Brain" in a series of funny adventures. In this book, they believe that the swindling boy, Tom, had reformed his ways in order to get a bike for Christmas, but is back at it again simply to stop the bragging of one boy and his coonskin cap. But his ways also tend to help a lot of people in the town, like how Tom tutors the way of a rebellious girl named Dotty who wears boys clothes and is completely uneducated in all matters of sense, and also starting his own newspaper which solves the mystery of a bank robbery in that town with the theft of $10,000, which is quite a huge sum of money to a pair of boys who get an allowance of 10 cents a week. Tom also tends to make a fool out of some kid's uncle, who pretends to be a ghost from a once-thriving mining town down the road which is deemed off-limits to the kids in the area, and also helps his father out of a rut when they get lost while on a weekend camping trip, their wagon is smashed, and their horse is killed.

I have ordered more of the books as well, but this book happened to be the first one to arrive and I couldn't wait to read it again for the first time in 10 years. Completely awesome!

I am not sure how old I was when I first read this series, but it was mentioned the other day and I looked it up on Amazon (which is why I love Amazon so much, have an idea about something you have read or seen? Get it sent to your house quickly)low and behold there were the books.
It is a fun read and something that I think kids would still get a kick out of. Tom the Great Brain has an endless talent for getting himself and his brothers into tight fixes, and then getting them out again. Usually none the worse for wear and with a little jingle in his pocket as well.

I do wish Tom would have a little more compassion for folks as well, but he does end up with a better grasp of taking pity on folks and doing things just because it's a nice thing to do. His adventure to that reality though is interesting and fun to watch.

Great for kids, buy one and see if they don't beg you to get the rest.