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Zack Files #29
Just Add Water And Scream!
When Zack and Spencer get the late-night munchies at a sleepover, they curb their hunger with some freeze-dried food that Zack got at the Air & Space Museum. After devouring freeze-dried ice cream and pizza, they come across an extra package of freeze-dried something. When opened and wet, the shriveled mass starts growing, and growing and growing! How will the boys stop an out-of-control blob from eating everything in sight before it's too late?
Illustrated by Jack E. Davis.
Illustrated by Jack E. Davis.
64 pages, Paperback
First published February 24, 2003
4 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Dan Greenburg
161 books75 followersDAN GREENBURG BIO
BOOKS:
Dan's 73 books have been published in 24 countries.
His adult best-sellers include EXES, LOVE KILLS, HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE, and HOW TO AVOID LOVE AND MARRIAGE. How to be a Jewish Mother sold several million copies. It and How to Make Yourself Miserable were in print for 30 years and were on Publishers Weekly’s list of all-time bestsellers.
Amazon will publish Dan’s third psychological thriller, FEAR ITSELF, in January 2014. They’ll also republish his first two thrillers, EXES and LOVE KILLS.
He’s written four series of children's books: THE ZACK FILES, SECRETS OF DRIPPING FANG, WEIRD PLANET, and MAXIMUM BOY. The Zack Files sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into 20 languages, and generated an Emmy-winning 52-episode TV series that ran on Showtime and Fox Family.
ADVENTURES:
Dan has written extensively about his adventures:
Riding with NYPD homicide detectives for two years to research thrillers FEAR ITSELF, EXES, and LOVE KILLS.
Interviewing murderers alone in their maximum security prison cells for FEAR ITSELF.
Attending autopsies in the NYC morgue for EXES.
Learning how to discipline tigers and lions on a Texas tiger ranch.
Swimming with 80,000 lb. humpback whales in the deep ocean.
Flying upside down with a stunt pilot in an open-cockpit biplane.
Participating in dangerous voodoo rites in Haiti.
Riding with NYC firemen for four months and following them into burning buildings.
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Assisting exorcists in a Connecticut house attacked by poltergeists.
Acting a major character role in a Western movie filmed in Spain.
Doing stand-up comedy at the New York Improv, and on TV talk shows.
Getting screamed at by Orson Welles on the set of Catch-22 in Mexico.
MAGAZINES:
Dan’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Time, Life, Newsweek, Ms., Playboy, and have been reprinted in 44 humor anthologies in the U.S. and England.
MOVIES AND TV:
Dan has had six of his feature films produced, two of which are on Variety’s list of top grossing films.
THEATER:
Along with Jules Feiffer, John Lennon and Samuel Beckett, Dan was a contributor to Oh! Calcutta!, which ran on Broadway for 21 years. He was also a contributor to Free to be You and Me, which ran off and on Broadway for years.
MISC.:
Dan has appeared on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. He grew up in Chicago, got his BFA from the University of Illinois, and his MFA from UCLA. He lives in Westchester, NY and British Columbia with his author wife Judith Greenburg and many cats.
dan@dangreenburg.com
BOOKS:
Dan's 73 books have been published in 24 countries.
His adult best-sellers include EXES, LOVE KILLS, HOW TO BE A JEWISH MOTHER, HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF MISERABLE, and HOW TO AVOID LOVE AND MARRIAGE. How to be a Jewish Mother sold several million copies. It and How to Make Yourself Miserable were in print for 30 years and were on Publishers Weekly’s list of all-time bestsellers.
Amazon will publish Dan’s third psychological thriller, FEAR ITSELF, in January 2014. They’ll also republish his first two thrillers, EXES and LOVE KILLS.
He’s written four series of children's books: THE ZACK FILES, SECRETS OF DRIPPING FANG, WEIRD PLANET, and MAXIMUM BOY. The Zack Files sold more than 2 million copies, was translated into 20 languages, and generated an Emmy-winning 52-episode TV series that ran on Showtime and Fox Family.
ADVENTURES:
Dan has written extensively about his adventures:
Riding with NYPD homicide detectives for two years to research thrillers FEAR ITSELF, EXES, and LOVE KILLS.
Interviewing murderers alone in their maximum security prison cells for FEAR ITSELF.
Attending autopsies in the NYC morgue for EXES.
Learning how to discipline tigers and lions on a Texas tiger ranch.
Swimming with 80,000 lb. humpback whales in the deep ocean.
Flying upside down with a stunt pilot in an open-cockpit biplane.
Participating in dangerous voodoo rites in Haiti.
Riding with NYC firemen for four months and following them into burning buildings.
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster.
Assisting exorcists in a Connecticut house attacked by poltergeists.
Acting a major character role in a Western movie filmed in Spain.
Doing stand-up comedy at the New York Improv, and on TV talk shows.
Getting screamed at by Orson Welles on the set of Catch-22 in Mexico.
MAGAZINES:
Dan’s articles have appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, The Huffington Post, Time, Life, Newsweek, Ms., Playboy, and have been reprinted in 44 humor anthologies in the U.S. and England.
MOVIES AND TV:
Dan has had six of his feature films produced, two of which are on Variety’s list of top grossing films.
THEATER:
Along with Jules Feiffer, John Lennon and Samuel Beckett, Dan was a contributor to Oh! Calcutta!, which ran on Broadway for 21 years. He was also a contributor to Free to be You and Me, which ran off and on Broadway for years.
MISC.:
Dan has appeared on The Today Show, The Tonight Show, Larry King Live, and Late Night with David Letterman. He grew up in Chicago, got his BFA from the University of Illinois, and his MFA from UCLA. He lives in Westchester, NY and British Columbia with his author wife Judith Greenburg and many cats.
dan@dangreenburg.com
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 1, 2011
It is a conventional, run-of-the-mill story about stopping aliens from attacking the earth and killing human.
The story starts with Zack and his friend Spencer who got a pack of dried spores from a small-scaled museum. The jelly-like-octupus-shaped creature ordered Zack, Spencer and his father to feed them and buy more spores from the museum. They were scared to death. The development of the story so predictable that it's like as if you were watching a very out-dated film in the 1930s.
As you can guess, the boys and the father tried to kill the Martian aliens together. With the clues in the story, it's expected that they would be able to extinguish the creatures by firing them with the heat from hair-dryers. Their effort did not pay off. They shot with the hair-dryers, only to find that they grew into beach-ball size and became stronger and more horrible. Then a little twist came when the boys quirted some salad dressing and made them shrink.
In the end, they ended up calling a team of budsbusters to exterminate the spores thoroughly. It is very unexciting to see the father paying a huge bill in the end, as if he was paying a set meal at McDonald's. The part that the father and the son walked proudly at the street, smiling at people with the belief that they saved the earth is very American and cheesy.
It would have to be a good and interesting book if it is the first time for a child to read a sci-fi story about stopping the aliens from attacking the earth. Otherwise, it would be a very boring and uninteresting story and, to the big fans of Dan Greenburg, is the most disappointing book in the Zack files series.
The story starts with Zack and his friend Spencer who got a pack of dried spores from a small-scaled museum. The jelly-like-octupus-shaped creature ordered Zack, Spencer and his father to feed them and buy more spores from the museum. They were scared to death. The development of the story so predictable that it's like as if you were watching a very out-dated film in the 1930s.
As you can guess, the boys and the father tried to kill the Martian aliens together. With the clues in the story, it's expected that they would be able to extinguish the creatures by firing them with the heat from hair-dryers. Their effort did not pay off. They shot with the hair-dryers, only to find that they grew into beach-ball size and became stronger and more horrible. Then a little twist came when the boys quirted some salad dressing and made them shrink.
In the end, they ended up calling a team of budsbusters to exterminate the spores thoroughly. It is very unexciting to see the father paying a huge bill in the end, as if he was paying a set meal at McDonald's. The part that the father and the son walked proudly at the street, smiling at people with the belief that they saved the earth is very American and cheesy.
It would have to be a good and interesting book if it is the first time for a child to read a sci-fi story about stopping the aliens from attacking the earth. Otherwise, it would be a very boring and uninteresting story and, to the big fans of Dan Greenburg, is the most disappointing book in the Zack files series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2012
-Crosset&Dunplap Dan Greenburg
The ZACK Files seriese 29
-about 55 minutes
-museum,kitchen,pizza,spores,rash,spell,beware
-Q1:Where did this story happen?
Q2:Finally, what words appearedon his bag?
I love icesream, so in my refrigerater, there are 4 icedream now!
Anyway, I was surprised about the end of this story.
That scene was about what else happens to Zack.
When Zack's dad showed the mirror, he saw the spelled"BEWARE"on
his back. I did not know that word, so I checked that meaning.
"BEWARE" means "be carefull". Wow....
The ZACK Files seriese 29
-about 55 minutes
-museum,kitchen,pizza,spores,rash,spell,beware
-Q1:Where did this story happen?
Q2:Finally, what words appearedon his bag?
I love icesream, so in my refrigerater, there are 4 icedream now!
Anyway, I was surprised about the end of this story.
That scene was about what else happens to Zack.
When Zack's dad showed the mirror, he saw the spelled"BEWARE"on
his back. I did not know that word, so I checked that meaning.
"BEWARE" means "be carefull". Wow....
May 14, 2012
I love The Zack Files, and my students do, too. These are great quick reads for boys and girls who need high-interest material that's more accessible for struggling readers. I'm reading these with 3rd and 4th graders that are reading .5-2 levels below grade level, and my husband read them with a 3rd grade boy several years ago, and all the kids were completely psyched every time they get a new volume. Highly recommend them.
November 18, 2012
*Grosset&Dunlap
*11/17=15min 11/18=60min
*7words summary
boys/museum/astronant/mars/water/bubbling/saved
*discussion questions
1)If you could be an astronant, what would you want to do?
...I want to go to the moon and land there like Neil Armstrong! It is so cool,isn't it?
2)If you see an alien, what will you do?
...may be I will run away from alien and tell it to the police! then if I have power, I tweet it on the twitter..!
*11/17=15min 11/18=60min
*7words summary
boys/museum/astronant/mars/water/bubbling/saved
*discussion questions
1)If you could be an astronant, what would you want to do?
...I want to go to the moon and land there like Neil Armstrong! It is so cool,isn't it?
2)If you see an alien, what will you do?
...may be I will run away from alien and tell it to the police! then if I have power, I tweet it on the twitter..!
March 17, 2016
After going to the space museum and buying what they think is freeze-dried food, Zack and Spencer head home and almost destroy the world!
For booktalk: read starting on page 12
This is a popular series with my 2nd and 3rd grade students even still.
For booktalk: read starting on page 12
This is a popular series with my 2nd and 3rd grade students even still.
Read
October 15, 2009AWESOME!!!!!!
September 11, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews