What do you think?
Rate this book
Night of the Living Yogurt
Michael, Jon, and Gemma become suspicious when the school clocks start spinning backward, the grumpy vice-principal turns friendly, and thirty-two gallons of yogurt disappear, and their investigations give way to a yogurt monster. Original.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
William L. DeAndrea
47 books9 followersWilliam L. DeAndrea (1952–1996) was born in Port Chester, New York. While working at the Murder Ink bookstore in New York City, he met mystery writer Jane Haddam, who became his wife. His first book, Killed in the Ratings (1978), won an Edgar Award in the best first mystery novel category. That debut launched a series centered on Matt Cobb, an executive problem-solver for a TV network who unravels murders alongside corporate foul play. DeAndrea’s other series included the Nero Wolfe–inspired Niccolo Benedetti novels, the Clifford Driscoll espionage series, and the Lobo Blacke/Quinn Booker Old West mysteries. A devoted student of the mystery genre, he also wrote a popular column for the Armchair Detective newsletter. One of his last works, the Edgar Award–winning Encyclopedia Mysteriosa (1994), is a thorough reference guide to sleuthing in books, film, radio, and TV.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 28, 2023
Okay, random review time. It took me too long to read and then post this because of tech problems that weren't my fault this time so i gotta make this as quick as possible. I found this random book on archive a while back and it's been sitting on my list for ages. Since it's short I figured I'd finally pop it in.
It's by brothers William and Matthew Deandrea, who haven't done a ton but have a few notable works here and there. The former sadly died the same year this came out. I thought this book was stand alone but just like My Favorite Ghost, it is not despite once again there being no indication of that. Seriously, is that hard to say somewhere on the cover or back that it's a sequel or something?!
I didn't feel like doing hard research as I was slowed down as it is but it seems like there at least 2 others as it stars the same kids dealing with stuff in their home town which attracts weird stuff. A classic setup and you know I dig it. This ties into "When Dinosaurs Roamed the Basement" as it features the same villains. They recap it for us so guess there's no reason to read it now?
They mention dealing with tons of other stuff even then it only acts if Dinosaurs exists but whatever. As for this one, Johnathan, his brother Micheal and friend Gemma noticed some odd things. Their grumpy vice principal is acting nicer, some pranks happen around school and something is off about the yogurt that is being made. Eventually it turns out alien forces may be at work and it escalates to what you see on the cover.
I thought this would be mid like a lot of what I've been reading but it was actually pretty good. The characters aren't brimming with depth but each mostly has enough persaonitly and this lives off their interactions. They're just fun to hang out with and they prove to be decently smart. This reminded me a lot of Spooksville with the kids being smart at figuring out the mystery and their interactions being the highlight.
Its packed with little details about the school and such which helped make this come alive to me. It's not super deep at these things per say but it works. The brother is a genius but still acts like a kid and the siblings get a long. Gemma is a good friend despite some sarcasm. There's also supporting people that help out.
There's just a mom and she's good when we see her. Solid adults all around, even the grumpier ones. They first don't tell adults but soon they do but don't mention the weirder stuff so they don't look crazy. Dad is dead which leads to one nice moment but otherwise isn't dealt with too much. Maybe in the other.s
The plot isn't crazy amazing but it flows well enough and builds to some solid ideas when see what is going on. There's a twist I didn't see coming as a part I thought they ditched becomes important. However, we get 2 climaxes and both are a bit weak. Good build up and then abruptly stops. The ending itself works with a nice final note but the climax could have been stronger.
Villains are good but are defeated too easily. As a whole, this was just fun. It's a cool adventure with likable characters that work well off each other. It could be beefier in places and it's not like an amazing stand out in this sub genre but it's just fun. I needed something better than just fine and this fit the bill.
I wanna read the others now so stay tuned for that someday. That wraps it up for this, as I said I need to be quick. Next one with luck with be Thursday for something tying into April Fool's. See ya then.
It's by brothers William and Matthew Deandrea, who haven't done a ton but have a few notable works here and there. The former sadly died the same year this came out. I thought this book was stand alone but just like My Favorite Ghost, it is not despite once again there being no indication of that. Seriously, is that hard to say somewhere on the cover or back that it's a sequel or something?!
I didn't feel like doing hard research as I was slowed down as it is but it seems like there at least 2 others as it stars the same kids dealing with stuff in their home town which attracts weird stuff. A classic setup and you know I dig it. This ties into "When Dinosaurs Roamed the Basement" as it features the same villains. They recap it for us so guess there's no reason to read it now?
They mention dealing with tons of other stuff even then it only acts if Dinosaurs exists but whatever. As for this one, Johnathan, his brother Micheal and friend Gemma noticed some odd things. Their grumpy vice principal is acting nicer, some pranks happen around school and something is off about the yogurt that is being made. Eventually it turns out alien forces may be at work and it escalates to what you see on the cover.
I thought this would be mid like a lot of what I've been reading but it was actually pretty good. The characters aren't brimming with depth but each mostly has enough persaonitly and this lives off their interactions. They're just fun to hang out with and they prove to be decently smart. This reminded me a lot of Spooksville with the kids being smart at figuring out the mystery and their interactions being the highlight.
Its packed with little details about the school and such which helped make this come alive to me. It's not super deep at these things per say but it works. The brother is a genius but still acts like a kid and the siblings get a long. Gemma is a good friend despite some sarcasm. There's also supporting people that help out.
There's just a mom and she's good when we see her. Solid adults all around, even the grumpier ones. They first don't tell adults but soon they do but don't mention the weirder stuff so they don't look crazy. Dad is dead which leads to one nice moment but otherwise isn't dealt with too much. Maybe in the other.s
The plot isn't crazy amazing but it flows well enough and builds to some solid ideas when see what is going on. There's a twist I didn't see coming as a part I thought they ditched becomes important. However, we get 2 climaxes and both are a bit weak. Good build up and then abruptly stops. The ending itself works with a nice final note but the climax could have been stronger.
Villains are good but are defeated too easily. As a whole, this was just fun. It's a cool adventure with likable characters that work well off each other. It could be beefier in places and it's not like an amazing stand out in this sub genre but it's just fun. I needed something better than just fine and this fit the bill.
I wanna read the others now so stay tuned for that someday. That wraps it up for this, as I said I need to be quick. Next one with luck with be Thursday for something tying into April Fool's. See ya then.
Displaying 1 of 1 review