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yapha's review against another edition
3.0
In this sixth Pals in Peril book, Jasper Dash is tired of living in the past. His once cutting edge experiments are now outdated, and he has become a cliché. When he mysteriously receives instructions on building a transporter, he finally sees a way to find out more about the mysterious beam of light that was his father. But nothing is ever as it seems to be. For fans of the series, grades 4-8.
abdiel47's review against another edition
5.0
It is immediately apparent that He Laughed with His Other Mouths has a different tone than the other books in the series. A science fiction adventure, it explores some of the mysteries that the author has hinted at in previous novels in the series. And while it is full of absurdities like the other books in the series, the author intentionally uses them to make the book feel more emotionally intense and less laugh-out-loud. While the grand tragedies of previous novels are softened with silliness, here they don’t get softened as much, and sometimes not at all.
The changes in tone were so drastic I became convinced early on that Anderson’s not planning on writing any more Pals in Peril books. That left a kind of pall over my reading, but in the end it was awesome. This and Linoleum Lederhosen are probably my favorite books in a fantastic series.
With regards to kids fiction in general, I must admit I almost always hate it. When I read it as a kid I felt like the authors were condescending and trite. Even reading modern fiction aimed at kids I feel like the authors are only aiming their books at kids and teenagers because they think they are too dumb to recognize all their sloppiness and mistakes.
I think one of the reasons I liked these books is because it makes fun of children’s literature. In the series the author points out when he’s manipulating your emotions, he calls attention to the fact that there are plot holes. Still the series manages to be funny for both kids and adults. It is also able to cut through the silliness with real pathos. It questions what it means to exist. And it questions why we even read silly books to begin with.
The changes in tone were so drastic I became convinced early on that Anderson’s not planning on writing any more Pals in Peril books. That left a kind of pall over my reading, but in the end it was awesome. This and Linoleum Lederhosen are probably my favorite books in a fantastic series.
With regards to kids fiction in general, I must admit I almost always hate it. When I read it as a kid I felt like the authors were condescending and trite. Even reading modern fiction aimed at kids I feel like the authors are only aiming their books at kids and teenagers because they think they are too dumb to recognize all their sloppiness and mistakes.
I think one of the reasons I liked these books is because it makes fun of children’s literature. In the series the author points out when he’s manipulating your emotions, he calls attention to the fact that there are plot holes. Still the series manages to be funny for both kids and adults. It is also able to cut through the silliness with real pathos. It questions what it means to exist. And it questions why we even read silly books to begin with.
brucefarrar's review
4.0
In a dream, Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut, gets an inspiration for an instantaneous teleportation device that can could send him into the depths of intergalactic space. Stinging from the humiliation that he’d received at the school science fair for his atomic powered mobile telephone.* So, against his mother’s wishes, he decides to send himself to a planet deep in the Horsehead Nebula in the hope of finding a being more accepting of his unique talents. Alas, that is not whom he finds.
*It was mobile, but it was also “as big as a lunch cart and had an antenna on top. It had huge metal wheels. It had a little door on the side with an atom painted on it. It had some kind of dial and a headset on it.”
*It was mobile, but it was also “as big as a lunch cart and had an antenna on top. It had huge metal wheels. It had a little door on the side with an atom painted on it. It had some kind of dial and a headset on it.”
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