Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #175141 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8–The intrepid detectives from Whales on Stilts! (Harcourt, 2005) return in another off-the-wall send-up of the Stratemeyer-style series fiction. Jasper, Katie, and Lily are off to the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort for a short vacation. They discover that the inn is currently hosting a collection of other series characters, including the air-headed Cutesy Dell Twins (shades of Sweet Valley High); the blockheaded Manley Boys; and sad, one-book Eddie Wax, in perpetual mourning for his horse Stumpy. The mystery-solving Hooper Quints go missing, as do most of the lodge's hunting trophies and an heirloom diamond necklace belonging to one of the guests. Search parties are organized, and Jasper and Lily are keen to join in. Katie, however, prefers to hang out by the pool with the Twins. Unexpected dangers await the searchers, from gun-toting kidnappers to poisonous snakes to hungry wolves. Meanwhile, back at the Lodge….The episodic and determinedly nonlinear plot is amusing, but the real fun here is the dialogue–a wild and wonderful mélange of 1950s series-speak (Jupiter's moons!), Valley speak, adolescent trash talk, and mock heroics. As in Lemony Snicket's Unfortunate Events series (HarperCollins), the author frequently addresses readers directly with suggestions, hints, and comments. Underneath all the craziness, there is a subtle and surprisingly poignant message about growth, change, and friendship.–Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 4-7. Great Scott! The author of Whales on Stilts (2005) has dashed off a swell sequel, featuring an expanded cast of ersatz Stratemeyer syndicate stars--from the Cutesy Dell Twins and the stupid, hunky Manley Boys to the "adorable mystery-solving Hooper Quints." In this episode, Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut; Katie Mulligan ("known for combating evil wherever it shambles and drools"); and shy but canny Lily Gefilte leave aptly named Horror Hollow for a bit of R&R at remote Moose Tongue Lodge--only to be swept up, thanks to a supposed kidnapping and a putative robbery, into any number of encounters with wolves, steep cliffs, and oddball adults, as well as hilariously inane conversations with fellow vacationers. Tucking in friendship issues, hyperconvenient clues and red herrings (both figurative and literal), and the occasional book ad, footnote, or personal comment, Anderson leaves no trope untripped in bringing the newest of his Thrilling Tales series to its postdenouement ski party and happy ending. Never has the Hardy Boys-Nancy Drew axis been knocked further or more delightfully askew. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Customer Reviews

An exciting page-turner for children
Katie Mulligan is sick of life in Horror Hollow: the zombies, the vampires, the horrific practical jokes her mom and dad play --- it's all getting a little bit old. So when Katie's friend Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut, receives a coupon for a free dinner at the Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort, Katie jumps at the opportunity for a few days away from adventure. When Jasper, Katie, and their friend Lily arrive at Moose Tongue, though, they are surprised to find that most of the guests, like Katie and Jasper themselves, are the stars of adventure novel series past and present.

There are the Cutesy Dell twins (dead ringers for the Sweet Valley High girls), the clueless but oh-so-macho Manley Boys, and Eddie Wax (whose best friend is a horse named Stumpy). All the guests are thrown into turmoil, though, when the Hooper Quints, stars of a series of 1950s adventure novels, are kidnapped and held for ransom in a remote mountain cave. Jasper and Lily join a search party, but Katie, determined to avoid adventure, lounges around the pool with her new friends, the Cutesy Dell twins.

Like WHALES ON STILTS!, the first book in M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales series, THE CLUE OF THE LINOLEUM LEDERHOSEN delights in over-the-top language and outrageous situations: "Freedom, alas, was far away. As Jasper listened in consternation to the screams of distress, he felt a creeping little feeling. It was inside his nose. His hay fever. It was getting worse." The plot is convoluted and absurd (just as a good old-time mystery story should be), and the novel makes dozens of references to other books and movies (for example, the Hooper Quints have a nanny who's a musical nun. When the outfits she sews out of curtains wear out, she makes them a new set of lederhosen out of the kitchen linoleum).

With its glimpses into the narrator's back story and its tongue-in-cheek tone, Anderson's Thrilling Tales series is fast becoming the heir apparent to Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Stay tuned --- in the next installment, Jasper Dash heads for the wilds...of Delaware.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Fun Read
Humorous parody that will hit home for anyone who grew up on the various "teen wonder pulp" series of the '40s, '50s or '60s (Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, etc.) I'll have to let someone else speak to whether it works for today's teens.

You can enjoy this without having first read its prequel, "Whales on Stilts." But I intend to pick up a copy, now that I've been introduced to Anderson's cast of characters!

Amazing Satire On Childrens Books
This book was amazing! M.T Andersen manages to poke fun at Nancy Drew,
The Hardy Boys, and other childrens books. Each chapter ends in a cliff hanger so I read the whole book in a day. If you read this book be prepared to laugh out loud!

I am uterly shoked at how little recognision this book got... Honestly it's better than Harry Potter.

You should BUY THIS BOOK!!!