Scan barcode
katykelly's review
3.0
Likeable hero, great hero format.
3.5 stars.
A good idea here. Boy moves to a new town and writes a letter home every month to a (girl) friend. Potential spooky and crazy goings on, a new school with bullies and friends and a family including an inventor - these letters are going to get very interesting!
It felt a bit 'Eerie Indiana', very reminiscent of the series I enjoyed as a child. And while children will probably love it, it was a little trite, forced and silly.
Frankie misses his best friend, but soon has plenty to tell her about, with regular monthly updates involving his mum's inventions and new friends at school - nappies, weather rays, shrinking/growing, giant sharks... it's all the sort of things the age group will enjoy.
I gave this to my 10-year-old to read. He finished it very quickly before passing it back to me and declared it "alright". I then read it and agreed. It's not exceptional, it has moments of humour, the story is formulaic, characters a little bland, he self-refers to his band. Lots is squeezed into one book, there are messages about friendship and teamwork.
It's passable, it's fun, it's a bit gross, it's episodic. It'll keep them entertained.
For ages 8-12.
3.5 stars.
A good idea here. Boy moves to a new town and writes a letter home every month to a (girl) friend. Potential spooky and crazy goings on, a new school with bullies and friends and a family including an inventor - these letters are going to get very interesting!
It felt a bit 'Eerie Indiana', very reminiscent of the series I enjoyed as a child. And while children will probably love it, it was a little trite, forced and silly.
Frankie misses his best friend, but soon has plenty to tell her about, with regular monthly updates involving his mum's inventions and new friends at school - nappies, weather rays, shrinking/growing, giant sharks... it's all the sort of things the age group will enjoy.
I gave this to my 10-year-old to read. He finished it very quickly before passing it back to me and declared it "alright". I then read it and agreed. It's not exceptional, it has moments of humour, the story is formulaic, characters a little bland, he self-refers to his band. Lots is squeezed into one book, there are messages about friendship and teamwork.
It's passable, it's fun, it's a bit gross, it's episodic. It'll keep them entertained.
For ages 8-12.
dani_thebookdragon's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
beckiewright's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When in need of reading a fun book, tom always comes through, I know it's a children's book, but it's still a good book, great story.
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Green stinky storms, a weird town, superpowers?, friendship, and more! A delightful and hilarious book!
NOTE: I read this book in Dutch. I have no clue what the English names for everything is, so I am going to be using the Dutch names.
Meet Frenkie, he just moved to the little town of Bizar (though I guess if one moves from Grijsdorp it is an improvement) and misses his dear friend Dani a lot. We see how he tries to make the best of things and writes letters to his friend Dani. And then a big green poopy stinky storm happens and things get very weird and very bizarre. The story gets more and more magical and silly with each new month and I just LOVE LOVE LOVED it. It may have come over a bit episodic, but I think it wouldn’t have worked in another way given this book takes place over a year. It would just be too big or you would lose tons of story.
I had so much fun finding out what was going on with that storm and what it meant for each character. I won’t spoil anyone’s superpowers you will just have to read this fun book to find out, but I have to say if I had to rank the superpowers I would do it this way:
Mollie
Erik (though a bit inconvenient, but still awesome)
Frenkie
I also loved seeing what happened to the town and that the storm didn’t just affect the children. It affected a lot more!
Then there are shadows lurking and stalking, inventions being made, there are secrets (and one I definitely didn’t see coming about a certain character who I wasn’t a fan of because of their responsibilities that they didn’t seem to take). The club has a lot of things to figure out and I loved seeing them get together and do things. I am so happy that Frenkie found friends so fast and that he has so much fun in his new town.
I loved that this book was all in letters (almost one for each month). I loved seeing what happened in Bizar every month and what happened to each of Frenkie’s new friends or what happened in the town. As the storm really made things even weirder. Even spookier. Even stinkier. Even greener. I loved seeing the little hints that he was interested in more than just being friends though also quickly missing it as soon as he did, which is adorable and also so fitting for his age. I do wonder how Dani reacted to all the crazy and weird stories that Frenkie told her. I can only imagine.
NOTE: I read this book in Dutch. I have no clue what the English names for everything is, so I am going to be using the Dutch names.
Meet Frenkie, he just moved to the little town of Bizar (though I guess if one moves from Grijsdorp it is an improvement) and misses his dear friend Dani a lot. We see how he tries to make the best of things and writes letters to his friend Dani. And then a big green poopy stinky storm happens and things get very weird and very bizarre. The story gets more and more magical and silly with each new month and I just LOVE LOVE LOVED it. It may have come over a bit episodic, but I think it wouldn’t have worked in another way given this book takes place over a year. It would just be too big or you would lose tons of story.
I had so much fun finding out what was going on with that storm and what it meant for each character. I won’t spoil anyone’s superpowers you will just have to read this fun book to find out, but I have to say if I had to rank the superpowers I would do it this way:
Mollie
Erik (though a bit inconvenient, but still awesome)
Frenkie
I also loved seeing what happened to the town and that the storm didn’t just affect the children. It affected a lot more!
Then there are shadows lurking and stalking, inventions being made, there are secrets (and one I definitely didn’t see coming about a certain character who I wasn’t a fan of because of their responsibilities that they didn’t seem to take). The club has a lot of things to figure out and I loved seeing them get together and do things. I am so happy that Frenkie found friends so fast and that he has so much fun in his new town.
I loved that this book was all in letters (almost one for each month). I loved seeing what happened in Bizar every month and what happened to each of Frenkie’s new friends or what happened in the town. As the storm really made things even weirder. Even spookier. Even stinkier. Even greener. I loved seeing the little hints that he was interested in more than just being friends though also quickly missing it as soon as he did, which is adorable and also so fitting for his age. I do wonder how Dani reacted to all the crazy and weird stories that Frenkie told her. I can only imagine.
donnaadouglas's review
4.0
Another stellar Tom Fletcher novel read with my kiddo. A different style to The Creakers and The Christmasaurus as this one is written as a series of letters, but it exposed my kiddo to a different writing style. She said at the end that she'd like to read another book from the POV of Franky's girlfriend Dani so she could get to know her! Lol!
Great mummy-reading! Enjoyable, creative and entertaining!
Great mummy-reading! Enjoyable, creative and entertaining!
toriedawn1's review against another edition
4.0
This Book is perfect for children, it is written in the format of letters from the main character sent to his best friend therefore it is all written in language that is easy for young readers to understand. there is plenty of humour and there are illustrations throughout. It took me about four hours to read and look at all the pictures. My seven year old read it in about 8 sittings of an hour each so its a fairly quick read. I would reccomend this book.
mariethelibrarian's review against another edition
4.0
En spennende og morsom bok. Litt forutsigbar, men underholdende.
soph_naughton's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5