Product Description

When Howie Quackenbush receives his order from the school book club, he's expecting 101 Pickle Jokes. What he gets is a copy of The Secret Guide to North Mellwood, and something tells him his life is about to change dramatically. The guide tells him how to transport anywhere in town simply by laying his hand on a secret portal and saying his destination's true name. At first, transporting around town with his best friends is a lot of fun. But Howie is full of questions. Who sent him the book? Why? Why does every place in Mellwood have two names? And what could the mysterious Hall of Babies possibly have to do with him?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1083362 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 133 pages

From Publishers Weekly
An order-fulfillment snafu affords the offbeat premise for this children's book debut. When fifth-grader Howie Quackenbush orders 101 Pickle Jokes from his school book club, he instead receives Secret Guide to North Mellwood. The book opens up into a map identifying the "true names" of various buildings and sites in Howie's hometown, and identifies five "portals" through which the initiated can travel to other Mellwood locations. Conveniently, one of the portals a bronze statue of Larry Boone, allegedly a Revolutionary War hero is located in front of the boy's school. Howie's second attempt at ordering the joke book brings an addendum to the secret guide, providing access to some hidden underground spots. In the conclusion, Howie enters the underground Hall of Babies, where he meets his unborn sister and learns her true name; when his mother gives birth the following day, Howie ends months of debate by naming the baby. Unfortunately, digressions and dull dialogue may discourage readers, and while the contrivances are clever, the author fails to use them to exciting or meaningful effect. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6 Fifth-grader Howie is in for a surprise when he opens his classroom book order. Instead of 101 Pickle Jokes, he gets a mysterious book, Secret Guide to North Mellwood, which is actually a foldout map of his hometown showing all the buildings labeled with strange names. A note explains that the guide can be used as a transportation device. It is possible to travel directly to any place on the map merely by reciting its "true name." While the premise has potential, the author doesn't carry it off successfully. Story elements are introduced but not resolved and plot threads are left dangling everywhere. The "true names" on the map are intriguing, but the unusual words don't always relate to the locations they represent. The final third of the story is positively surreal. Howie and his two best friends make brief visits to a series of weird spots beneath the city including a Kafkaesque place full of hungry monkeys and an eerie, fog-filled holding room for ghostly lost pets. They encounter the strange, unsettling inventor of the map system in his underground hideaway. Finally, Howie meets and talks to his own unborn sister in an odd, womblike room where naked babies sit around in soft chairs with their umbilical cords stretching up to disappear through the walls. Steer science-fiction fans to Gene DeWeese and Bruce Coville instead. -Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 3-6. There's nothing like a bit of unexpected magic to liven up a thoroughly ordinary day. Howie finds this out in fifth grade when his school's mail-order book club delivers The Secret Guide to North Mellwood instead of the title he ordered. North Mellwood is where he lives, and the mysterious book gives instructions for transporting from one place to another, a marvelous way to surprise folks and get around town much more conveniently. Howie lets a few friends in on the secret, and even shares it with school bully Mike Channering, a smart move that ends up diffusing Channering's menace. Is the transport power dangerous? Could it eventually bring too much unwanted attention to the kids? Probably. Meanwhile, besides having fun transporting, the kids manage to explore an underground parallel universe with links to their own time and place. There's some awkwardness in the telling (for some reason Howie always uses his friends' first and last names), but the story is, nonetheless, a clever, enjoyable read with a likable hero. Anne O'Malley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

This was a great story
Howie Quackenbush is a part of all of us. He shows all sides of himself in this wonderful book. I laughed and I cried. Absolutely loved it!

City of Names
I laughed out loud several times. It's greatly imaginative and I loved the main characters.