Author: Joe McGee
Genre: early chapter book
Similar books: The Spell Thief by Tom Percival
The Ghastly McNastys by Lyn Gardner
Rating:
 |
| simple entertainment, lacking that special something |
Summary (provided by publisher): Norm is worried about fitting in at camp. Literally. He’s not just tall for a kid. He’s tall even for a bigfoot. Oliver, the only human at camp, has the opposite problem: he’s small enough that a strong wind might knock him over. With the help of their new friends, Hazel (a hyperactive jackalope) and Wisp (a boy fairy who has trouble flying), they’ll have to work together to earn their canoeing certification without disturbing the resident lake monster—or Barnaby Snoop, who will stop at nothing to capture Norm for his personal rare creature collection.
My opinion: I'm pretty accepting of oddities in a story. I consider myself pretty generous with my willing suspension of disbelief. This book tested that willingness. Even within the internal logic of the story there were things that didn't make sense to me, plot elements that seemed to only happen to conveniently move the plot along. I could be more forgiving of that if the villain storyline made more sense. His motivation is clear but his defeat is more the result of happenstance than real effort. Reminiscent of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Norm and his friends don't even realize they are under threat. So while this is cute and might entertain a young reader I doubt it will hold up to repeat readings.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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