The Meanwhile Adventures - Hardcover

Doyle, Roddy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439662109 ISBN 13: 9780439662109

Publisher: Scholastic, 2004

Synopsis

The triumphant finale to Roddy Doyle's hilarious Mack Family tales, released in the same season as his sequel to A STAR CALLED HENRY, his best-selling book for adults.

Mr. Mack’s been arrested for a small misunderstanding at the bank (involving a saw inconveniently shaped like a machine gun.) Billie Jean Fleetwood-Mack has disappeared (off on an attempt to become the first woman to circle the globe without telling anyone.) So it’s up to the Mack kids Jimmy, Robbie and Kayla (and Rover the jaded wonder-dog) to save their family and the world from bullying prison guards, nasty orphan catchers and an army of ill-mannered slugs.

As funny as THE GIGGLER TREATMENT, as snarky as ROVER SAVES CHRISTMAS, and as brilliant as only Roddy Doyle can be.

About this title

About the Author

RODDY DOYLE won the Booker Prize in 1993 for his adult novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. Once a Geography and English teacher in North Dublin, Roddy Doyle has written four novels for children. This is his first picture book.

Reviews

Gr 3-5-An award-winning adult author misses the mark with this frenetic children's fantasy. Fired from his job as a biscuit (cookie) taster, Mister Mack decides to become a mad inventor and is mistakenly arrested as a bank robber. Meanwhile, his sons Robbie and Jimmy try to break him out of jail. Meanwhile, their mother is trying to break the women's record for running around the world. Meanwhile, four-year old sister, Kayla, and her friend Victoria set out after Mom, accompanied by canine entrepreneur Rover. The book switches dizzyingly among the four stories, with occasional startling digressions including an army of militant slugs trying to take over the planet. The puckish creatures from Doyle's The Giggler Treatment (Scholastic, 2000) make a return appearance, still pursuing their mission of depositing dog "poo" in the paths of grown-up evildoers. There is considerable insult dialogue and body-function humor. The black-and-white drawings, featuring wide staring eyes and quizzical expressions, are amusing if a trifle unsettling. The disparate stories finally link up, more or less, but by that point, most readers won't care.–Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gr. 3-6. Doyle brings back pretty much the same cast of characters from The Giggler Treatment (2002), although without the Gigglers, for another adventure in high silliness and postmodern storytelling. The involved plot centers around the false arrest of Mr. Mack and efforts by his children and dog to free him, while his wife tries to be the first Irish woman to run around the world without telling anyone. Short chapters keep the multiple story lines moving, with occasional interruptions for the writer to get a cup of coffee and the dog to take over the word processor and attempt to send the plot in a different direction. Ajhar's pencil drawings add to the manic humor. Lots of silly fun, delivering plenty of laughs to young readers. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0439662109
• ISBN 13: 9780439662109
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Ajhar Brian
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176