Tourist Trap (Edgar & Ellen) [Hardcover]

Charles Ogden (Author), Rick Carton (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Edgar & Ellen

The picturesque town of Nod’s Limbs has all the makings of an Historic Treasure—sociable citizens, stupendous statues, magnificent monuments, and, of course, covered bridges. So, with the help of some high-profile visitors and the "reconstruction" of the local junkyard, Mayor Knightleigh hopes to make the town’s status official. But when sibling scourges Edgar and Ellen get wind of the mayor’s plan to put Nod’s Limbs on the map, they take the unsuspecting out-of-towners on a tour they’ll never forget.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The scheming, spiteful little antiheroes of Rare Beasts--terrible twins Edgar and Ellen, a sort of Pugsley and Wednesday Addams duo--return for a second book in Charles Ogden's goth-themed, tongue-in-cheek series.

Tourist Trap begins as Edgar and Ellen revel in their gloriously sinister home and the nearby "Gadget Graveyard," ripe with possibilities for misanthropic mischief. But the twins' beloved junkyard--and even their towering, mansion home--might be threatened by the pretentious plans of pompous Mayor Knightleigh, who hopes to get the town of Nod's Limbs on the National Registry of Historic Treasures. Edgar and Ellen, of course, immediately set out to thwart the mayor's plans by sabotaging a visiting tour of VIPs with monster attacks, insect sandwiches, and even a devilishly clever scheme involving the biggest piece of French toast in the universe.

The fun format--forty-four short chapters, interspersed with Rick Carton's creepily cool pen-and-ink illustrations--makes for a quick read, and while the while the book never quite reaches Lemony Snicket levels of genius, kids will still love the many jokes and the twins' escalating, Grinch-style meanness (which, thankfully, never gets too mean). Watch for a third installment, Under Town. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–Edgar and Ellen's hometown, Nod's Limbs, is about to become a prime tourist destination unless the twins can do something to stop the success of the mayor's high-profile publicity campaign. Determined to keep their home-by-the-cemetery and their favorite junkyard safe, the siblings launch a plan to hijack the mayor's tour group and make sure that no one ever wants to visit again. This is the second in the series featuring the mischievous and devious brother/sister duo, but readers will enjoy Tourist Trap regardless of their familiarity with the first book. Ogden's satirical humor will keep them laughing, and Edgar and Ellen's elaborate schemes will keep them turning pages. Carton's illustrations have an Edward Gorey meets Lane Smith feel that works well with the text.–Kelley Rae Unger, Peabody Institute, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Tricycle Press (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582461112
• ISBN-13: 978-1582461113
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,843,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Delightful Romp, June 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Tourist Trap (Edgar & Ellen) (Hardcover)

Even better than the first adventure, Tourist Trap proves another delightful romp for kids and kids-at-heart alike. Ogden gives us a refreshing duo who get to do all the naughty things we only dream about! Great fun with wonderful turns of phrase and vocabulary.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars turist trap, October 11, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Tourist Trap (Edgar & Ellen) (Hardcover)

This is a really good book. It was pretty funny because they do some weird stuff. Plus there are some awkward characters. This book can get pretty boring, but there is a huge twist in the book. I can relate to the characters and the stuff they do.
I do recommend this book. I'm not a big book reader, but I actually read this book. So if I liked it anyone else who reads it I bet will like it, too. It's cool that the two kids, Edgar and Ellen, know how to play lots of funny pranks and know how to take care of themselves. It's exciting to see what they're going to next. I highly recommend you read this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Edgar and Ellen Tourist Trap, February 8, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Tourist Trap (Edgar & Ellen) (Hardcover)

Has anything weird ever happened to you? Well, in Nod's Limbs weird things happen all the time because of the twins named Edgar and Ellen. The title of this book is Edgar and Ellen Tourist Trap, the genre is fiction and the author is Charles Ogden.
This book is about twins that live in a mansion alone because their parents left them there. The twins are pranksters and have a graveyard/dump next to their house that they call Gadget Graveyard because they get most of their things they use for pranks there. The mayor wants to destroy Gadget Graveyard to create a hotel. To do so he must invite celebrates and famous news reporters to Nod's Limbs to give them a tour of the town so that they will give their town a good review and tourist will come. When Edgar and Ellen find out Gadget Graveyard is in trouble they become the tour guides and then very terrible and gross things happen.
The twins are some very interesting characters. The twins always are causing trouble and confusion. I like the twins because of all the things they do like when they let Berenice their Venus fly trap bite there feet and when Edgar throws crab apples at the celebrates.
I like this book because it is very funny. I like when the celebrates ate the sandwiches that were filled with bugs and Edgar said "Compliments of Berenice's lunch pail." I think it was also funny when the twins said "Oh they rather like the escapees." I thought that was hilarious. At times this book is boring but then a surprise comes right around the corner. I am very pleased with this book.