Skip to main content

Fake Mustache



                 


Fake Mustache: Or, How Jodie O'Rodeo and her Wonder Horse (And Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius Criminal Mastermind
by Tom Angleberger
Amulet, 2012.  196 pgs. Fiction

     When Lenny Flem Jr.'s best friend Casper buys a Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven mustache ($129.99) at Sven's Fair Price Store and a junior-size Man-About-Town suit at Clancy's Big & Small Short & Tall clothiers, everything changes. The Heidelberg gives Casper power over the minds of just about everyone and he uses that power to rob banks, the Federal Gold Reserve, and then to buy the Heidelberg Novelty Company, makers of the voting machines used in presidential elections. Only Lenny and former child star of stage and screen Jodie O'Rodeo and her Wonder Horse Soymilk know what Casper is up to, and their adventures and efforts to stop him from seizing the presidency and moving from there to world domination include but are not restricted to: chatting up a state legislator who eats Jello with chopsticks, diving into the Fake Booger Works vats at Heidelberg Novelty, and using a Heidelberg Ultra-Sticky-Stretchy Grabber Hand to stop a speeding . . . . But I won't ruin the ending. An early reference to The Hoboken Chicken Emergency reveals Fake Mustache to be something of an homage to Daniel Pinkwater. It is a brave man who takes on The Master, but Angleberger proves himself a worthy disciple and perhaps successor to the Great One in this book as well as his others.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...