Customer Reviews

Mudshark

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

 

 

MUDSHARK is a great addition to any Gary Paulsen collection. It's not the HATCHET adventure type, but rather one of the crazy, mad-cap mishap stories like HOW ANGEL PETERSON GOT HIS NAME and LAWN BOY.

Mudshark is actually Lyle Williams. He got his name for his lightning speed and his incredible observation skills. These are skills he honed while keeping an eye on Kara, Sara, and Tara, his triplet sisters. When they became mobile, life became one accident-avoidance after another.

Most of Mudshark's skills are put to use helping his friends at school. He has a certain knack for finding anything that goes missing. The main adventure, in what I hope is Paulsen's first in a series of Mudshark adventures, is locating the school's mysteriously missing erasers. Yes, gradually every eraser in the school has disappeared.

The cast of characters in MUDSHARK is quite colorful. There's a talking parrot in the library, an easily excitable English teacher, a culturally educated custodian, and a "free-range" gerbil, just to name a few. I especially enjoyed the principal's announcements that opened each chapter. His running commentary on some sort of out-of-control situation in the faculty restroom was a hoot!

Aimed at an audience of 8-12 year olds, MUDSHARK is one of those fabulous Paulsen books that can be enjoyed by anyone from a beginning chapter book reader to a senior citizen who remembers what it's like to be a kid. At only 83 pages long, MUDSHARK is a quick way to pass the time and enjoy a laugh or two.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

Mudshark is cool. He's athletic, he's friendly, and he's smart. Really, really smart. He can remember everything, and reigns supreme as item-finder and mystery-solver at his middle school...until a strange, "telepathic" parrot takes up residence in the library, just as things around his school are beginning to get very strange.

Mudshark (I mean the book this time) is clever and very, very funny. Because it is clearly early middle grade, the plot is small; I would argue that even as a middle grade book, it could have been slightly better developed... In particular, I would have been more satisfied if the reader had more insight/emotional involvement in the solving of the mystery, as the outcome seemed rather sudden. However, the characters were lovable and unique, the narrative voice was excellent, and the humor was superb. Highly recommended to readers ages 8-10 in particular.

Gary Paulsen, the prolific writer of award-winning books for boys, introduces a new character in his latest effort. Mudshark, aka Lyle Williams, loves to play death ball. He earned his nickname by making an amazing tackle during a game. But Mudshark is known for much more than his incredible ball-playing abilities. He has lightning-fast reflexes (honed from hours of chasing after his triplet sisters: Kara, Sara and Tara), and because he has a great memory and keen sense of observation, he is also good at solving mysteries.

Strange things start happening at Mudshark's elementary school. Erasers are disappearing in large numbers from the classrooms, a gerbil is on the loose somewhere in the building, and there is a problem in the faculty restroom. The Principal calls on Mudshark for help.

All the students know Mudshark is good at solving mysteries. If you lose your homework, you can count on him to find it. He is certainly up to the challenge of solving the "mystery of the disappearing erasers," but his mission is complicated by the librarian's pet parrot, who not only can talk, he also can observe things and speak in full sentences about them. For instance, when Betty wants to know where her recipe for lard is (Betty is always experimenting with formulas and recipes for all manner of concoctions), the parrot says, "Check the window ledge in the girls' restroom." Sure enough, the recipe is there. The students are amazed at the parrot's ability and believe he is psychic. They also think he might be as good as, or better than, Mudshark when it comes to solving mysteries.

But the parrot doesn't solve the mystery of the missing erasers. Mudshark does after much observation and deduction. Answering that question, though, leaves him with a bigger one. The culprit admits to stealing the erasers, but he is doing so for a good cause. Mudshark is willing to keep the custodian's secret, but he has to find a way to prevent the parrot from spilling the beans. He does this with a plan that involves a cat, a fair helping of "Odors to Repel" (one of Betty's concoctions) and a bit of magic.

Obviously, MUDSHARK is not of the serious HATCHET variety as it is humorous through and through. This newest cast of characters also includes Ms. Underdorf (the zany librarian who thinks a handbag is an armadillo) and Bill Wilson (the culturally educated custodian who collects art). Paulsen has written the book in such a way as to leave open the very real possibility of a sequel. Let's hope he adds more titles to the lineup with Mudshark as their star. The lively writing style and short chapters make it a quick and fun read for just about any age, especially for its target audience.

--- Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin

Gary Paulsen is one of my favorite authors and so the expectation was high for this book. It isn't often that I can say I am disappointed in one of his books, but this one is not a typical Paulsen. Most of Paulsen's books fall into three categories: survival/adventure; true story survival/ adventure and humor. I have read and enjoyed dozens of Paulsen's book in each of these categories. With over 200 books to his name, it would be hard to keep up the Newberry pace of 'Hatchet'.

'Mudshark would fall into the humor category. It is the story of a young boy, nicknamed Mudshark, who has an uncanny ability to remember minute details. He uses this skill to help his fellow school members solve a mystery involving a parrot, missing blackboard erasers and a missing gerbil.

This book would probably best be enjoyed by elementary boys but I would not steer them to this book first. Again, not a typical Paulsen. If yo've never read Paulsen before, start with another jewel and save this one for a rainy day (at only 80+ pages, maybe a brief shower)!

I'm a big fan of Gary Paulsen's work. The author can turn out heartfelt stories like Tracker and The Cook Camp that resonate emotionally, write adventure that fills the imagination with the outdoors like Hatchet, and he can tickle your funnybone unmercifully. One of his newest books, Mudshark, is the latter variety and kept me glued to the pages.

Lyle Williams is a 12 year old prodigy who's a keen observer like Sherlock Holmes. He's also uncannily quick, capable of having a thought and moving at the same time. He has three younger sisters, triplets, and preoccupied parents that often leave him in charge of them, so he's had to learn how to think on his feet.

Those skills have pushed Mudshark, as he's become known after a particularly memorable game of Death Ball, into the school's unofficial detective. When something goes missing (including a brain, a cat, and a brand new car), Mudshark is the one that everyone goes to. Generally he solves everyone's problems just by being observant, logical, and persistent.

However, when the school librarian brings in a parrot that apparently has psychic powers, Mudshark faces the toughest mystery's he's ever encountered in his young career. Is the parrot really psychic? Everyone thinks so, and they start going to the parrot instead of Mudshark. And what's happening to the school's erasers and the faculty lounge.

Young readers need to share this book with their parents. It's meant to be read aloud. I wish I'd held off reading this one to share with my 12 year old, but I passed it off to him as soon as I was finished. This short novel (83 pages) is packed full of good humor and imagination. This is the kind of storytelling a lot of writers have gotten away from. I could imagine Gary Paulsen sitting in front of me, spinning this tale with broad exaggeration and a twinkle in his eye.

The mysteries are well-thought out as well. Alert readers (and their parents) can catch onto clues and solve most of the puzzles themselves, but they won't always get the motivations behind the culprits. Paulsen outdoes himself by adding an extra depth to that part of his story.

I don't know if Mudshark is going to spawn any sequels, though there is a hook left at the end of this one, but I'd gladly pick them up if Paulsen writes them. I loved his Hatchet spin-offs, and Mudshark is a character cut from the same dynamic cloth after his own fashion.

Mudshark is cool: fast-thinking and the guy with the answers: that's why he's started his own detective agency and is so successful - until a psychic parrot enters the school library. Can he outthink Mudshark? A funny easy reader follows Mudshark's dilemma in this step above chapter book status.

This book came highly recommended and I started reading it with/to my 9-yr old son. The story is reasonably interesting, but the writing style gives me pause. The sentences often run a third of a page long (with lots of commas, subordinate clauses, recounting of old tales, side stories, thoughts about what would/could happen in the future and whatever else could pop for a fleeting moment into a kids brain, I suppose) - No, that sentence isn't half as long, rambling or complex as the ones you'll find in this book :-). If your child reads more of Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants than Charlotte's Web, stay clear of this one.

A few examples:

Page 16: A few were downright frightening, but the letter that received the most attention and prompted the subsequent hiring of a child psychologist whose job it was to visit classrooms throughout the district looking for Potential Cries for Help from Disaffected Youth read, "Body parts could be gathered from city morgues and, using duct tape and the clever manipulation of electricity, a human being could be manufactured."

Page 17: The custodian was constantly trying to fit new tanks into the rooms, and everyone hoped that he was garnering huge overtime pay for the weekend and school vacation visits he made to clean the tanks and feed the crayfish, lest they die - which they would, an unfortunate and reeking discovery made immediately following the first three-day weekend of the school year.

Page 18: Young people did learn a lot about the Inevitable Cycle of Life, which was sure to help them as they matured, got jobs as bankers and lawyers and car engine designers, then planned the sizes of of their own families and immediately had their house pets spayed or neutered.

Page 10: He told her she needed to lie quietly until the spins stopped and that she should go to the school nurse right this very minute because the nurse's car insurance payments had been reduced since she never drove over eleven miles per hour, and she would be in such a good mood that she'd give Annie a pass to miss class, even though she usually held the passes back like they were made of gold.

I read this to my students and they loved it! Gary Paulsen writes books that are loved by all ages and this one is a fun, quirky read.

This book isn't too shabby. Our 10 yr old loved it, but be forewarned - the title is a derogative term and if your child takes the book to school they may be teased for it.