The Pickle King [Hardcover]

Rebecca Promitzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2010

A podunk town, a pickle factory, a dead body with one eyeball gone?! Maybe this summer won't be so boring after all for Bea and her friends. A funny, scary, original debut "caper"!

Bea lives in the nowhere town of Elbow, where it rains so much the residents have green mold growing between their toes. Nothing ever happens in Elbow. Its closest claim to fame is a giant pickle factory, owned by Herman, the Pickle King. Herman's a small-time big shot, a local celebrity...until he turns up dead. And when Bea and Sam stumble across the body--minus one eyeball--in the water-logged basement of a creepy old house, suddenly THEY'RE ones in a pickle! With a mystery to solve, maybe this summer won't be such a bore after all....

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—The town of Elbow is known for two things—unceasing summer rain and Herman's Pickles. Bea, 11, is a camera whiz, so when her friend Sam discovers a dead body in an abandoned house, he wants her to document the scene. She photographs the twisted, waterlogged corpse with its missing eye, but once she develops the shots, her camera begins to act strangely. It moves by itself, spins around, and emits weird groans. The dead man has evidently hitched a ride—and now he wants the kids to investigate his demise. They identify the victim as the former head of the pickle company, now taken over by a big conglomerate. Furthermore, they learn that people tend to disappear in Elbow. Some end up in St. Agnes mental hospital, some turn up among the half-crazed outcasts in a filthy camp under the garbage dump—and some just never surface again. Gradually, the friends realize that there is an even more fiendish scheme behind the disappearances—and they may be the next victims. The rather convoluted plot often stretches credulity to the breaking point. The young investigators sneak out late at night, drive a car, access restricted hospital files, and spy on a meeting of the villains' secret Brotherhood. There is plenty of truly gross action as well. Even for a book of this type, the Frankenstein-inspired climax is a bit over-the-top. This is an additional choice where there is an especially strong demand for horror fiction.—Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
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From Booklist

Although it does nothing but rain all summer in the dead-end town of Elbow, 11-year-old Bea and a ragtag group of classmates discover adventure after they stumble across the ghost of a local pickle manufacturer. Promitzer mixes together numerous disparate elements in this sometimes gruesome mystery, with allusions to Frankenstein, Bob Marley, Dan Brown, Scooby-Doo, and swamp people stirred together and topped off with a final, somewhat unfulfilling lesson on the first day back to school: “Normal meant kids had to stick to their own cliques and act in a way that wasn’t really who they were.” Fewer plot ingredients would have resulted in a tighter, more effective story, and Bea’s first-person narration lacks consistent authenticity. Still, readers with a taste for quirky and circuitous adventures may want to take a bite. Grades 5-8. --Andrew Medlar

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: The Chicken House; 1 edition (March 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545170877
• ISBN-13: 978-0545170871
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #704,513 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome book!, June 20, 2011

By 

Nathan Hitz (WI, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pickle King (Audible Audio Edition)

i really loved this book. it was full of suspense but if you have a weak stomach i would not suggest it. theres an awesome plot and when the mystery unfolds its a real shocker!

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific read!, March 29, 2011

By 

Mark Lawrence - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pickle King (Hardcover)

what a great book, read it with my 10 year old and my seven year old, girls, and they both loved it. well written, and would make a great movie. dont hesitate, dive in !!

5.0 out of 5 stars My daughter certainly loved it, January 31, 2011

By 

Mr. E. Bearne - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pickle King (Hardcover)

This review by Nicholas Cendrowicz says it all: My daughter, who is 8, read about this book in a magazine. She didn't stop hassling me until I bought it for her. It's on her behalf that I'm writing this review. I mean I didn't read the book, but she did. She devoured it.

We were on holiday by the beach with a swimming pool, but no, my daughter wasn't interested in all that summer holiday stuff: she wanted to progress through this book. In the end, we grew tired of asking her to splash around in the sea or the pool and thought it best to let her get to the end of 'The Pickle King', because there was no way that we were going to get to put this book down.

Our girl reads books in the category above her age, and she really loved this book. If I ask her, she will say that it was fantastic. Indeed, when she finally finished it, she thanked me for having bought it for.

So this is my review as a parent. If you get this book for your kids, they will certainly enjoy it. But you may have problems if you want them to do anything else because they will not want to put it down. Be warned!