Set in Philadelphia's badlands, where drug gangs rule the streets, this debut novel has the explosive authenticity, the narrative drive, and the tender passion to knock you out of your seat! Fourteen-year-old Gabriel's father skipped two years ago. Now his mother, Ofelia, is searching for her runaway son, riding her bicycle at night through the city's darkest, most violent stretch. The pavement beneath her is mysteriously painted with chalk outlines of bodies. Each time a child is killed, another white outline appears. While Ofelia tries to outrun a vision of her son's death, her son tries to outrun the neighborhood, taking cover with a drifter; but Gabriel is already trapped, at the mercy of Diablo, the ugliest of the dealers, a man who kills for fun.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
In this sequel to Oggie Cooder (2008), geeky-but-likable Oggie is thrilled when his cool-but-mean classmate Donnica invites him (at her mother’s insistence) to her birthday party. Donnica plots deceptive ways to keep him from attending, while inventive Oggie and his more perceptive friend Amy think up practical and creative ways to get around the obstacles set up by his ungracious hostess. A fourth-grade haiku lesson works surprisingly well to reveal character and move the story along. Full-page, stylized drawings with gray washes help define the characters and underscore the humor of this accessible chapter book in the Oggie Cooder series. Grades 2-5. --Carolyn Phelan
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
Praise for Party Animal:
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
“A truly delightful story.” – Kidsreads.com
Praise for Oggie Cooder:
"Funny and fast paced" - Booklist
"Hilarious!" - Family Fun
"Pitch-perfect humor, with just the right touch of zaniness" - The Bulletin
"A fun, high-interest read" - SLJ
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More About the Author
Sarah Weeks is the author of Oggie Cooder, So B. It, Jumping the Scratch, and the Guy series. She lives in New York City, where she practices charving at least once a fortnight.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A truly delightful, cohesive story,
By KidsReads (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Oggie Cooder, Party Animal (Hardcover)
In Oggie Cooder's second delightful outing, he is actually invited to mean girl neighbor Donnica Perfecto's swimming party after he has experienced long-term tremendous yearning to plunge into her pool. Oggie is so thrilled; he makes his peculiar pleased sound by fluttering his tongue against the roof of his mouth: "Prrrr-ip! Prrrr-ip!"What he doesn't know is that Donnica's mother insisted that her daughter invite Oggie; she wants to stay on Oggie's mom's good side. Mrs. Cooder helps Mrs. Perfecto with her gardening, and Mrs. Perfecto wants her landscaping to be nice enough that she will be considered for membership in the Wawatosa Gardening Club. In fact, Donnica is determined to keep Oggie from actually attending her party. Donnica is in a snit in general about her birthday festivities since she wanted (and, because she is spoiled, she also expected) the rock band Cheddar Jam to play at her party. With the news that her father hired Bumbles the Juggling Bear instead of Cheddar Jam, Donnica is bound to be in a dreadful funk, which makes her even more resolute about keeping Oggie from attending the party. While Oggie is innocently looking forward to being a guest at Donnica's party and trying to decide what to give her as a present, his own life goes on. He spends time researching inventors. After all, Oggie hopes to invent something someday. He truly pays attention when librarian Ms. Hepper informs him that "Necessity is the mother of invention." Hmm. A tip like that could change a young boy's life...or even alter the course of a book's plot. Meanwhile, Oggie must answer that eternal question "Who am I?" in the form of an assigned Japanese poetry haiku, and he also makes the acquaintance of the phone company repair people, who rise up in the air in a "cherry picker" to work on the telephone lines. When Donnica informs Oggie that he can only attend her party if he can memorize (and follow) 101 B.P.R.'s (Birthday Party Rules), it seems that her ploy will keep Oggie home on the big day. But Oggie's good friend, Amy Schneider, is determined that he will attend, even though Oggie tells her he is a poor memorizer. The solution to Oggie's memorization problem is clever --- and might inspire readers to use the same tool as a memory aid. Oggie is a likable character and a true innocent. Sometimes his cluelessness feels a bit extreme, but it sets him up for amusing situations. The plot moves rapidly along, and the battle over whether or not Oggie will attend Donnica's party adds suspense. There's a very nice twist in the story when a boy who dislikes girls discovers the only person who shares his passionate interest is a female. Readers are also bound to admire the way author Sarah Weeks manages to weave together a handful of disparate threads --- including a new-found friend, a juggling bear, a cherry picker filled with repair people, second-hand trousers, a rock band, a creative main character and a whistling dog --- into a truly delightful, cohesive story that is likely to incite fans to imitate Oggie's purr of pleasure: "Prrrr-ip! Prrrr-ip!" --- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (terryms2001@yahoo.com)
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