Stays Crunchy in Milk [Paperback]

Adam P. Knave (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2009

They were four: Wereberry the strawberry werewolf, Choco-Ra the chocolate mummy, The Creature From the Fruit Lagoon (his friends call him "T.C."), and Cherrygeist the... well she was a ghost. At least, until she wasn't. One day, she wasn't there at all. And then they were three. A fairy tale for the super-sugar generation, Stays Crunchy in Milk is a road novel packed with 100% of your recommended daily allowance of essential action and adventure. And it's a delicious part of a nutritious breakfast.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...I was surprised and delighted to find that the novel is actually terrifically engaging and charming and not at all snarky. It is, in fact, really very uplifting, a story of hope and friendship and loyalty. All in all, it's a remarkable piece of work [...] and I recommend it with a clear conscience to all of you, whether you're old enough to remember Count Chocula or not. --Greg Hatcher, Comics Should Be Good

An imaginative work that uses pop culture icons in a highly entertaining way. A fine example that fun stories need not fit into one specific genre. --Alan Kistler, Comic Book Historian, MTV.COM

In Crunchy, Adam Knave hits a unique yet wholly familiar vein that is both hilarious and nostalgic. An outstanding work of pure imagination, the story will make you laugh until your sides hurt. The characters are simply brilliant - truly original yet sprinkled with just enough retro charm to make them seem like people (or creatures) you've know all your life. This is one book you don't want to miss. --Byron Starr, author of Ace Hawkins and the Wrath of Santa Claus and Doppelganger

There exists a world that we all know and love, yet have never truly seen before. Adam gives a first glimpse of this fantastic land full of familiar characters and opens the door wide for everyone to join along for fun and adventure! --Chris Giarrusso, author/illustrator of G-MAN and MINI MARVELS

This is my kind of book! Stays Crunchy In Milk is that rare story with both heart and substance. Adam Knave deftly reexamines the pop cultural elements of his childhood then reshapes them into wondrous things both familiar and new. Knave's engrossing story transforms his love for his early memories into an exciting adventure novel. Its narrative swept me right along. I really cared about what happened next. Two thumbs up from me. Four paws up from Roger Rabbit. --Gary K. Wolf, Creator of Roger Rabbit

From the Author

I was sitting around over the summer a while back and realized I wanted to write something hope based. That, in fact, all I wanted to do from then on was write things that were hope based. What does "hope based" mean, though? Well bad things still can happen to good people, that's life and drama is needed for any story, but hope exists and it is cool. Seriously. Hope can be awesome. And I wanted my writing to reflect that. Even if it doesn't end up all working out in the end, or even if it does, there is nothing bad about a solid helping of hope to push things and shape things and generally inform your life.

Oh it certainly takes more than just hope to get by, but I have been getting sick of bleak stories for a while now and I don't want to contribute to something like that. Not now at least. Maybe I'll ditch the hope based stuff in a few years, who knows. But for now this is my future. It's fun, it's exciting and it leads to good stories that you can wrap around and enjoy. At least it did this time.

And why have a story with cartoon characters? Isn't this just satire on satire, making fun of my childhood and focused on that? Well the characters I wanted because it amused me and made for a good yarn. It opened more doors than it closed. There's more than that but that will be a different post, I think. The satire stuff - well yes there is a lot of this book that can be read as shots of how I view the pop culture of my youth, what I think of it and how I interpret what it tried to say. But that isn't the point of the story at all. That's just the background. It's the setting and world. It isn't the goal. It's like...you have a flashy and shiny race car and have to drive to Boston. The car makes it more fun, but the drive isn't the car, ya dig?

There is a real, meaningful story in here. It's a coming of age story, a parable, a fairy tale for 30 yr olds ...it's a fun exciting story.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Creative Guy Publishing (August 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1894953592
• ISBN-13: 978-1894953597
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,380,549 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Adam P. Knave is a freelance writer and editor who has written fiction (CRAZY LITTLE THINGS and STRANGE ANGEL, STAYS CRUNCHY IN MILK), comics (LEGEND OF THE BURRITO BLADE and THINGS WRONG WITH ME and stories appearing in Image's POPGUN anthology) and columns for sites such as thefoonote, TwoHeadedCat and PopCultureShock. He is also one of the editors of Image's POPGUN anthology as well as other comic projects.

He lives in NY with his cat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complex, nuanced, and good for breakfast!, September 13, 2009

By 

Cynthia Potts (Ellenburg Center, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stays Crunchy in Milk (Paperback)

What at first glance appears to be a sugary simple tale turns out to be a deftly-layered exploration of the hero's journey. Pop culture references, cleverly described from oblique angles so as to provide the reader with continual starts of recognition as they move through the text, enhance this examination of what drives us: the need for love, the need for control, and especially the need to belong. Knave accomplishes all of this while delivering a fun read; recommended -- but be aware you may need to read this one twice to get everything Knave's packed in there.

There's a little bit of everything: buddy film meets road trip meets biting social commentary with overtones of Zen parable; I'm particularly enamored of the persistent need to find 'the other' -- in this case, the elusive Cherrygeist -- and Knave's examination of the role we all take in creating our own realities. Don't put this down as simple or gimmicky: the careful reader will discover that it is anything but.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part of a balanced library., November 24, 2009

By 

A. Wilson (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stays Crunchy in Milk (Paperback)

Those who spent their childhood Saturday mornings still wearing their jammies and sitting too close to a television can't possibly be prepared for the trip down memory lane they'll find between the covers of Adam P. Knave's "Stays Crunchy in Milk." While references to 1980's pop culture abound, the writing is much more that that. This delightful novel about three friends trying to find their missing fourth pays homage to those long (and long ago) Saturday mornings yet remains accessible to all.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful romp through your childhood, September 25, 2009

By 

Peter Elfman (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Stays Crunchy in Milk (Paperback)

"Stays Crunchy in Milk" is a romp through your childhood, if you happened to have survived pop-culture of the 80's. Despite the cartoonish appearance of the lead characters on the cover, however, this is a view of childhood through an adult's eyes. It's also an uplifting road story about friendship and all the downs and ups that it brings.

Wereberry, Choco-Ra and The Creature from the Fruit Lagoon (we'll call him T.C. for short) are best friends who lead simple lives. And yes, they should remind you of breakfast cereal icons. That's part of the fun. One day they discover one of their number has gone missing, and set out on a quest to find their friend. As such things go, they didn't really know what they were getting into when they started, and would be forever changed by their journey once they reach it's end.

The magic of this book is that it stays bright, true and hopeful through-out but never pulls a punch. A friendship doesn't solidify until it's been challenged, and these characters definitely work their way through their fair share of challenges. Half the fun in reading is trying to find the cultural references that make up it's trappings, while immersing yourself into the life-lessons it teaches that are it's heart and soul. Every new place the friends find brings it's own rules, tribulations and joys. Just when things start to get stale, the rules change and we the reader ride along with the characters to figure things out.

The book reads quickly, but will surprise you with it's depth if you aren't looking for it. It will suck you in and pull you along as the characters go on their trek, releasing you only with the last words on the page, as all good books should.