Embarrassed by his drum-beating and dream-interpreting mother and his swamp-prowling neighbor, Gower Pyle, who plays country music and eats M&Ms all day, Chester Dumbello is swept away by a parrot to a planet where sleeping is a crime. Reprint. SLJ.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Writing under a pseudonym, M. E. Kerr pens a story about a boy carried off by a one-eyed parrot to the planet Alert. PW found that this "quasi-science fiction work" is "told with a nightmare's whirling madness." Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-- James, the author of Shoebag (Scholastic, 1990), returns with another romp through the realms of the absurd. Unfortunately, the strong framework of reality found in that book is missing here, as the protagonist's life is already very strange. Chester Dumbello, 11, yearns to be "like everyone else" and to escape from Lucy, Mississippi, and his embarrassing mother, proprietor of the Dream Cafe, drum player, and dream interpreter extraordinaire. The appearance of Lornge, a large one-eyed parrot, signals Chester's flight to an even odder milieu--Alert--a place where sleeping is a crime. Imprisoned in the Tower of Loathing as a freak, Chester has some peculiar experiences before he finally returns home. James is an inspired inventor; her characters, with wonderfully ridiculous names, cavort across the pages exchanging sharp-edged dialogue all their own. The language is not difficult, but the satirical nature of the story, as well as a format that sprinkles the text with rhymes and interjections in large type, make it more suitable for older readers. Keeping up with all the characters and twists of plot requires close attention. The Shuteyes , in its own way, is a multilayered experience: a humorous, slightly scary adventure; a cautionary tale; and an exploration of the absurdity of prejudice, all rolled into one. --Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Adventure,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: The Shuteyes (Paperback)
I enjoyed reading The Shuteyes by Mary James. It was a funny book to read with weird characters. Chester Dumbello's mom tells people what their dreams mean. The people think that his mom is weird so they think Chester is weird too. A one-eyed parrot flies into the Dream Cafe repeating all kinds of crazy rhymes. Chester likes the parrot, whose name is Lornge and wants to keep him.
Chester talks to Lornge and tells him that he wants to leave home. He thinks it is a looney bin. So Lornge takes him away and they end up oon the planet Alert. Chester soon finds out that he can't sleep on Alert, that the shut-eyes (people that sleep) are bad and sent to another part of the planet, they are freaks. Lornge tells Chester that he will take care of him and that he can get some sleep but he had to be very careful. Chester got caught napping and got thrown into the Tower of Loathing where he was being recused by other shuteyes. He was recused by Lornge and his mom. He was beginning to realize that home wasn't really so bad after all. By: Dawson
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Adventure,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: The Shuteyes (Paperback)
I enjoyed reading The Shuteyes by Mary James. It was a funny book to read with weird characters. Chester Dumbello's mom tells people what their dreams mean. The people think that his mom is weird so they think Chester is weird too. A one-eyed parrot flies into the Dream Cafe repeating all kinds of crazy rhymes. Chester likes the parrot, whose name is Lornge and wants to keep him.
Chester talks to Lornge and tells him that he wants to leave home. He thinks it is a looney bin. So Lornge takes him away and they end up oon the planet Alert. Chester soon finds out that he can't sleep on Alert, that the shut-eyes (people that sleep) are bad and sent to another part of the planet, they are freaks. Lornge tells Chester that he will take care of him and that he can get some sleep but he had to be very careful. Chester got caught napping and got thrown into the Tower of Loathing where he was being recused by other shuteyes. He was recused by Lornge and his mom. He was beginning to realize that home wasn't really so bad after all.
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