Whales on Stilts: M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

M.T. Anderson (Author), Marc Cashman (Reader)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Lily Gefelty is just an average twelve-year-old girl. But her dad–a normal-enough seeming guy–just so happens to work for an evil genius who plans to unleash an army of extremely cranky, stilt-walking, laser-beam-eyed whales upon the world. Lucky for Lily, her two best friends are anything but average. Both of them are famous for their adventures. Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut, invents gadgets; Katie Mulligan spends her spare time fighting off zombies and were-goats. Surely they'll know what to do. And if they don't? then it will be up to Lily–average, everyday Lily–to come up with a plan.

With this crazy comic ride of a novel, M. T. Anderson launches a riotous and wonderfully weird new series for listeners who like their thrilling tales with tongue firmly in cheek.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–A story written with the author's tongue shoved firmly into his cheek. Lily Gefelty's father works for a mad scientist who wears a sack over his head. When she overhears him say that he wants to take over the world, her oblivious father assures her, "Honey, sometimes adults use irony. They don't really mean what they say." Nonetheless, the 12-year-old calls on her two best friends, Katie Mulligan, the star of the "Horror Hollow" novels (think "Goosebumps"), and Jasper Dash, also known as the Boy Technonaut (think "Tom Swift"), to investigate. The trio soon learns that Larry does indeed plan to conquer the world using mind-controlled whales on stilts with laser-beam eyes. No adult will believe them, so it's up to the kids to save the Earth. Readers who have graduated from Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) or who know their Lemony Snickets (HarperCollins), should love this first title in a new series. It's full of witty pokes at other series novels and Jasper's nutty inventions.–Walter Minkel, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 5-7. Putting a Stratemeyer Syndicate spin on the flakiest of pulp conventions, the always-surprising Anderson pits shy but clever Lily Gefelty and her two pals--Katie Mulligan, star of her own horror fantasy series, and relentlessly dweebish boy techonaut Jasper Dash, an adventure series hero himself--in a battle to save the world from an army of mind-controlled, laser-wielding whales on tall stilts. Pausing for authorial asides, random digressions, book ads, and the occasional product plug ("Say kids: Want to feel peachy-keen? / Drink a Quart of Gargletine!"), Anderson takes his intrepid trio through fire and water, chases, attacks, numerous silly cliff hangers, and lines of dialogue such as, "'Dash it all chums, this sounds a mighty pickle.'" Following a wildly destructive climax, there's the requisite happy ending--which includes the launch of a new series, featuring "Lily Gefelty and her pet rat Nimrod." Goosebumps fans and readers who get Lemony Snicket's brand of humor will be rolling in the aisles. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Audio CD
• Publisher: Listening Library (Audio); Unabridged edition (April 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307284336
• ISBN-13: 978-0307284334
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 4.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,478,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

M. T. Anderson is the author of The Game of Sunken Places, Burger Wuss, Thirsty, and Feed, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book and the winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Fiction. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stilted Whales, December 8, 2004

By 

Roger Steinbach (IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales - Whales On Stilts (Hardcover)

A got an advanced reader's copy to review through a library program, and at first I was turned off by how "little-kidish" (short, small, and double spaced), but within moments, I couldn't put it down. You don't have to be a young kid to enjoy this - in fact, the older (and, I'm assuming, wiser) you are, the more allusions you're likely to catch.

With chapter titles like, "What You Can Learn From Larry's Teeth," and a quick, witty writing style, you can't help but laugh and read on. Although it is soon obvious how the ending will turn out, it doesn't seem to matter while you're reading it; the reason why Whales on Stilts! stands out from other books is not its complex plot, but its halirity.

Don't miss it... or the whales will crush your home and shoot lasers from their eyes at you.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Monstrous Thrills! Gruesome Chills! Sidesplitting Laughs!", May 5, 2005

By 

Elena - See all my reviews

This review is from: M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales - Whales On Stilts (Hardcover)

"On Career Day Lily visited her dad's work with him and discovered he worked for a mad scientist who wanted to rule the earth through destruction and desolation." Lily Gefelty has always considered herself a little drab next to her friends Katie Mulligan and Jasper Dash, who each have their own adventure book series. But when Lily uncovers a plot to take over the world at her fathers workplace in the clearly labeled Abandoned Warehouse, it's her turn to step into the limelight and save the planet. Cleverly masked as "a midsize company devoted to expanding cetacean pedestrian opportunities," the goings on in the Abandoned Warehouse are not what they seem (er, actually...). Lily and her friends discover that Mr. Gefelty's boss, Larry, is really a whale-human hybrid intent on destroying the world using whales, stilts, lazers, and mind control. And it's up to Lily to stop him.

At first glance, you may think that "Whales on Stilts" is a silly, cheesy story geared towards ten-year-olds. You'd be right. However, "Whales on Stilts" goes so far beyond cheesy that it's positively hilarious for readers of any age, ten on up. If Douglas Adams had made a foray into juvenile fiction, this uproarious book may have been the result. Lily is so normal that she's the perfect main character to put into such a ridiculously overdone book. The other characters are uniquely strange in their own rights. The plot is straightforward and wouldn't be interesting at all in other circumstances, but the story is so stuffed with hilarity that the obvious and cliche plot is perfect. The best part of the book, in my opinion, actually occurs after the ending - an "educational" section written by one Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke, who seems to have a bit of trouble writing objectively ("1. How are Katie, Jasper, and Lily different? ... Do you have any friends who are different from you? What are they like? Why don't you think that Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke has any friends? She bought a big grill for her backyard, hoping that people would come to cook their ribs...."). "Whales on Stilts" is definitely a must read, because who knows when you'll need to know how to defeat an evil whale-human villain and his lazer-eyed whale minions?

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whales on Stilts - wacky adventure, July 21, 2005

By 

ryansmom93 "ryansmom93" - See all my reviews

This review is from: M.T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales - Whales On Stilts (Hardcover)

I had to read this book for myself after my eleven year old son was reading it and laughing through the entire thing. I found the book amusing and interesting. Perfect for my son and his age group. Parts in the story were educational. I enjoyed it and we are waiting for the next book to come out in August.