Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Grunthar's Revenge (The Outer Space Mystery Pizza Club 2) by Bruce Hale

What worked:

The story’s humor is perfect for lower-middle-grade readers. The two main alien characters are named Clorox and NoWay and they come from the planet Kroon. Clorox tends to interpret language literally and NoWay takes notes of wordplay they haven’t heard before. The human characters tell them to “Spill” the reason they’ve arrived on Earth but Clorox says they don’t have a drink to spill. Amazon indicates this book is for younger readers but they might not understand some of the word humor. A man tells the characters to “Beat it” and Clorox wants to know if they’re supposed to beat an egg or a rug.

The plot is easy to follow for younger readers and older, reluctant readers can finish it quickly. Grunthar is an alien inventor from Kroon and the characters are trying to figure out what he’s up to. Tina, her older brother Mateo, and their babysitter Jennica are the main human characters although they’re joined by a neighbor named Booker. Jennica might have a crush on NoWay. Tina wants to be the hero as she feels like Mateo gets all of the attention. Her favorite television show is about solving mysteries and she thinks she should be better at finding Grunthar. Grunthar’s motives are unclear but everything he’s doing involves pizzas.

What didn’t work as well:

More experienced readers might tire of the juvenile humor and expect more from the plot. While the story is humorous, it lacks detailed development that might create suspense or drama.

The final verdict:

The book will be entertaining for emerging or reluctant young readers due to its light conflict and corny jokes. I recommend it for this targeted audience but experienced readers may not like it as much. 

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