Goosebumps Most Wanted #1: Planet of the Lawn Gnomes by Stine, R.L. (2012) Paperback

Goosebumps Most Wanted #1

by R.L. Stine

Goosebumps Most Wanted #1: Planet of the Lawn Gnomes by Stine, R.L. [Scholast...

Genres: Horror, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, Science Fiction

Paperback

First published October 1, 2012

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

Reviews

[Holli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was left thoroughly confused by this book.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars from me and 4 from my kids, ages 5 and 7 . It was just so odd and ended abruptly. I still love you, R.L. Stine.

[Weathervane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Baffling. The main character has no compelling primary motivation until perhaps halfway through the story. The sister turns out to be imaginary; why? Uh... got me. The dog talks at the end. That's weird -- doesn't make much sense. The best I can figure is that this was meant to be a combination of the "everyone is a robot" trope with the more common "it was all a dream" device. I think the main problem is -- who cares? There was never much to empathize with. Plus it's clear early on the story exists in a sci-fi world, a discovery I was initially happy at, remembering one of Stine's past triumphant forays into the genre (Twist-a-plot: Time Raider). But it never amounts to anything particularly creative or amusing, and the final wild "twist" about the story's setting is right in the title.

This is a real puzzler. I probably would've liked this book as a kid, since I was a fool for reality-benders, but in my mind Stine already conquered the subject with Don't Go to Sleep! and The Cuckoo Clock of Doom. Galactic lawn gnomes don't put a dent in it, especially when the story encompassing doesn't follow a thread of logic.

[Fateme · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[KBooks - · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this ! You know it’s a good book when you are still thinking about how it would have carried on even though it’s finished! 🏡🪐🌗

[Perrilyn Pringle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy Goosebumps

[Joe Guiffre · Rating 4 out of 5]

esme 4 stars

[A Book Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a tween, I loved Goosebumps. I read them whenever I could, and I just thought R.L. Stine was the best author ever. His plotlines were just crazy enough to entice and glue my middle school self to the pages, and I liked that they were a little bit scary with a little touch of chill, though they never gave me nightmares. And the covers, with the ooze? I loved them. I loved to touch them and I had a small collection on my bookshelf… at one point I actually planned to begin with book 1 and eventually own them all—a feat that never did happen as, you know, middle schoolers can quickly be overcome by some new phenomena and forget all about their previous loves, which is what happened with Goosebumps.

But, nearly 20 years later, I came across a new release from R.L. Stine on Netgalley, and I just had to read it… I wanted to know if the novels still held as much appeal to me as they once did. The verdict? Well, no, not really—my logical side whispered to me throughout my reading of this novel, telling me just how ridiculous the plot really was, and I was thinking to myself that it’s such a shame that I’ve changed so much. And then… the ending happened. That’s right. The ending threw me out into left field and I was like, “whoa.” R.L. Stine’s still got it! And I’d give these books to any MG/tween out there looking for something a little weird, a little scary, and something that’ll definitely make them think, and wish the novel kept right on going. So, while I’ll admit that R.L. Stine’s books don’t appeal to me like they once did, because I’m not a tween anymore, R.L. Stine hasn’t changed a bit, and his books are still awesome, and I have to give this novel four stars because the twist at the end really was “kick butt.” This novel is definitely a winner.

To see my full review:

http://bookvacations.wordpress.com/20...

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 1 out of 5]

THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE WORST GOOSEBUMPS BOOK. I FUCKING HATED IT. Here’s why, without gagging: The character is fucking stupid and unlikable. It’s partly a revenge story. There is no plot until halfway through the book. Random shit happens and it’s not fun. Nothing makes sense. There’s a new twist like every fucking chapter, all of them shit. The ending was awful, the worst in all of Goosebumps. The climax was slightly tense, but just plain and simply stupid. And not fun. By far the worst thing I’ve ever read, DO NOT read this horse shit. It’s like if Earth Geeks was the same quality as Haunting With the Stars, and made even less sense. 0.5/10

[Austin Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow.
I don't have much to say about this one, other than it is one of the worst Goosebumps books I have ever read.

[Zoey De Leon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This probably might be the worst book Ive read ever not just a Goosebumps book but as a book in general, the book has no clear plot and so many random stuff happened and it's not explained until it is revealed in a twist ending. I was like, “what's the point of this and what's the appeal?” the main character also sucks in general even if he acts as a human his actions are terrible.

[Tor Domay · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title doesn't lie, and perhaps the seasoned Goosebumps reader will catch on to the twist pretty quickly, but the delivery was still good. There was something missing, I can't quite place it, but it honestly feels like one of those books where Stine was trying to break from the norm and write something different for himself.

[WhatShouldIRead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow - this book was weird!! More so than other Goosebumps I've read. The twist was definitely not of the ordinary of what I was expecting in the story, but then again, pay attention to the title when you pick this one up and it makes more bizarre sense.

[Kim Novak (The Reading Rx) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would have loved this when I was 5. It reminds me of the Tales from the Crypt and Twilight Zone episodes I used to watch on TV back in the 80s.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wesley loved this.


"My favorite part was the quagmire. I loved the whole book. Even the cover." Says Wess.

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Joe Burton's problem with malevolent lawn gnomes has now become Jay Gardener's, and there's a lot more unnerving paranormal activity for Jay to contend with than ever afflicted Joe in the first Goosebumps lawn gnome adventure, Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes. Twelve-year-old Jay moved with his parents and younger sister to a new town only weeks ago after some unexplained transgression he committed traumatized the family, but Jay doesn't seem to have learned the lesson and toned down his mischievous behavior. His parents keep much stricter watch over him now, not wanting to spoil their fresh start; though Jay loves mixing chemicals and gauging their hard-to-predict reactions, his chemistry equipment is prohibited in the new house, and it's clear that one of his experiments gone wrong is the reason his family had to move. The new town isn't unusual, except for the lawn gnomes in every yard: ugly plaster figures that everyone, without exception, uses for decoration. Of course, the predatory Buzzard Hawks are strange, too, massive blind birds patrolling the skies for live food, capable of swooping down and snatching a kid Jay's size to make a meal of him. The lake of bubbling orange goo is also bizarre, a deep quagmire that seizes anything which falls in and sucks it underneath, a deathtrap to be avoided at all costs. It turns out Jay's new neighborhood isn't as normal as it appeared at first glance, but his worst troubles don't begin until the lawn gnomes come to life.

"I know I'm supposed to be careful. I know I'm supposed to be good. But sometimes you have to take a chance and hope no one is watching.
Otherwise, life would be totally boring, right?"

—Planet of the Lawn Gnomes, P. 5

Jay's sister Kayla, possessed of the same bright blue eyes and curly red hair as him, attempts to dissuade her older brother from getting in any more trouble, but it's hard for Jay to toe the line perfectly when he's trying so hard. Accidents can happen, and with his parents predisposed to assuming the worst of him in the wake of what occurred before the move, innocent slip-ups have serious repercussions. Tangling with their grouchy old neighbor Mr. McClatchy won't earn Jay any commendations, and he resents the grownups all the more after he's punished. Jay makes friends with a kid named Elliot from down the block, but even Elliot behaves oddly about the town's perilous idiosyncrasies, dismissing the orange quagmire and Buzzard Hawks as no big deal. When Jay sneaks out late one night in defiance of his parents' rules, he runs into a horde of living lawn gnomes that attack him like a band of wild animals. Jay escapes their clutches and runs home to spill the unbelievable story to his parents, but their ho-hum reaction is puzzling. What does Jay have to do to be taken seriously? Perhaps there's a major piece to the puzzle he doesn't have yet that completes the logical picture. There are too many oddities to ignore, too much that doesn't align with the normal world as we know it. Maybe Jay just isn't seeing the forest for the trees...

Paying subtle homage to the 1968 film Planet of the Apes in classic Twilight Zone/Goosebumps style, Planet of the Lawn Gnomes indulges in twist after twist, continuing through the book's final paragraph. Before the story begins, R.L. Stine himself replaces Horrorland theme park's Story-Keeper from the Hall of Horrors series, assuming the role of host and leading the reader on a simulated tour of his writer's office, where scares lurk around every corner. Brandon Dorman's appealingly ghastly cover artwork again contrasts vividly with the covers of the original Goosebumps series; all one has to do is look at a 1995 copy of Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes beside Planet of the Lawn Gnomes to notice the enhanced intensity of the newer book's cover. Though its plot logistics aren't the tightest, I'd give Planet of the Lawn Gnomes one and a half stars, and I almost rounded up instead of down. This is an intriguing start to the Most Wanted series, and I look forward to reading more. R.L. Stine is bound to have a few thrilling surprises for us.

[Ian Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

My son loved it, but otherwise this was an odd jumbled mess of a story. Can't remember if this was just how Goosebumps is, or if this is a bad entry.

[Kelly Hager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jay has just moved to a new town with his parents and sister. Almost immediately, things get weird. For one thing, there are lawn gnomes EVERYWHERE. And if you turn away for a second, the gnomes are in different positions or even different places. And people don't go out at night.

When Jay starts questioning this, no one will tell him anything. He gets a lot of evasions and mumbled "You know..." but he doesn't. What's wrong with the town?

When I was younger, I read a lot of R.L. Stine novels. I was excited to get a different Goosebumps book at BEA and to be approved for this one on Netgalley because I absolutely loved his books when I was a kid. (Note: Goosebumps didn't begin until I had already moved on to Stephen King; I read his Fear Street books, and they were incredibly fun.)

The Goosebumps books aren't anywhere near as good as I remember the Fear Street ones being. A lot of this could be that I'm 32 and Goosebumps are intended for people probably 20 (or more!) years younger than I am. (Moment of silence for my youth, please.) And it takes a lot more to scare me than it does someone who's 10-12 years old.

But I'm not going to stop reading his books. Red Rain just came out and I'm very excited to read that. :) And maybe sometime, just for fun, I can re-read a Fear Street book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

R.L.Stine was one of my favourite authors when I was growing up so when I saw this book on netgalley I jumped at the chance to read it. This bookR.L.Stine was one of my favourite authors when I was growing up so when I saw this book on netgalley I jumped at the chance to read it. This book was everything I remembered and loved about R.L.Stine. The horror in the book seemed a bit more predictable to me but this might be due to the fact I am a lot older than the intended reading age for these books.

I really did enjoy this book it was a fun, fast paced read and even as an adult I did not seem some of the twists and turn coming.

I would recommend this book to anyone who read R.L.Stine as a child and wants to relive their youth.
was everything I remembered and loved about R.L.Stine. The horror in the book seemed a bit more predictable to me but this might be due to the fact I am a lot older than the intended reading age for these books.

I really did enjoy this book it was a fun, fast paced read and even as an adult I did not seem some of the twists and turn coming.

I would recommend this book to anyone who read R.L.Stine as a child and wants to relive their youth.

[Dee Toomey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book because when my grand daughter was young, we bought her many Goosebumps books, but I never took time to read any of them. She loved them. Then after the Goosebumps movie came out, I was curious about these books.
I found the book to be silly, and the storyline very shallow. I realize these books are written for children and not adults. Perhaps I am too old to read them and understand what the big draw was to my grand daughter. I will say, that although I am not impressed with this book the books we bought our grand daughter was worth every penny. Children need to learn a love of reading and of books. Every facet of life requires the ability to read. Encourage your children...buy them books. Or get them a library card and check out books for free. Read to them when they are too young to read for themselves. Discuss what you read. Never discourage them from reading anything that would not be harmful or bad. We need readers in our world.

[Jg · Rating 5 out of 5]

very weird. lawn gnomes made human robots to do their work in the morning because they only wake up at night.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jay was pretty horrendous, but later he got better. What was really good was the story. Though the ending... *shakes head* Typical R.L. Stine!

[Callumhopper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm left speech less the endings always catch me out. It felt like I was sucked into the story felling terror when they did such a good read.

[Clover · Rating 3 out of 5]

TLDR;
Goosebumps had a way to make lawn gnomes creepy. In this installment, not so much. I loved Jay Gardner as a character. I loved his quest for revenge for his dog, Mr. Phineas. I understood his desire to be responsible and a better person. The ending just fell flat and wasn’t good enough for me. There wasn’t enough buildup to make it a satisfying ending.

Stinking Lawn Gnomes:
Jay Gardener is a troublemaker. He likes “a little excitement. . . . [D]are [him] to do something — and it’s done.” So naturally, he’s “in trouble a lot.” Jay has moved to a new town with his parents and sister, Kayla. Jay’s “promised [his] parents [he’d] be more responsible in [their] new neighbourhood.” But that doesn’t work out at all for Jay. Jay gets in trouble with Mr. McClatchy, “the meanest, most-hated old dude in the neighborhood.” He crashes his bike into another neighbor, Elliot, and become friends. Elliot shows Jay the Quagmire where Jay instantly loses his bike and both boys almost drown. Jay goes home and plays around with his chemistry set, Kayla is very disappointed because they “had to move because of all of the trouble [Jay] caused with [his] chemicals.” He notices weird lawn gnomes all over the neighbourhood. Each time he looks, the lawn gnomes seem to be in a different place. “The lawn gnomes were a mystery about this town [Jay] had to solve.” Jay continues getting in trouble. While walking his dog, Mr. Phineas, chaos erupts. Mr. Phineas sees a squirrel and goes barreling after it. This causes a car accident. Jay shouts an apology as he chases his dog. Jay gets control over Mr. Phineas and they head back home. Jay calls 911 for the car accident, the man is still outside of his car repeating “Malfunction” over and over. The police take the man away and don’t ask Jay any questions. Mr. Phineas then chases a cat and ends up on Mr. McClatchy’s deck, where he throws up. Mr. McClatchy comes out, steps in the vomit, and then kicks Jay’s dog. Jay’s Dad gets upset with Jay and doesn’t seem to care about the dog being kicked.
Jay swears revenge on his terrible neighbor and goes to his chemistry set to concoct the perfect revenge. He tells Elliot about the plan. He goes out at night, “[he] knew [he] was doing the right thing. This man had kicked [Jay’s] dog. Kicked him really hard. And he deserved to be punished for it.” However, the gnomes rule the night and Jay is chased by them: “I still couldn’t see them in the darkness. But I could hear them. The lawn gnomes. They were coming for me.”

Every time I see a lawn gnome, I think of Goosebumps. I wish there were more lawn gnomes. This book however, was odd. The ending got weirder and weirder, but in a typical Goosebumps fashion. Mr. McClatchy was horrible for no reason. Elliot was timid but barely a character. I’m not sure how great the plot holds up as there was a lot of random things being thrown in. The Buzzard Hawks, the Quagmire, the “malfunction”. It didn’t feel very cohesive, just a bunch of things thrown together that is supposed to make sense in the end. It didn’t do it for me. It was okay, but not very well executed.

There were a bunch of great quotes though:
“My feet slid on McClatchy’s lawn, and then pounded the driveway. I ran through the blackness of the night. Not seeing anything. Not thinking. Just moving on fear and shock.”

“There were definitely secrets here in my new town, secrets I didn’t know the answers to.
But I’m going to find out, I told myself. I’m going to find out what goes on here at night.”

“My sister is a big coward. She follows every rule. I guess some people like to follow rules. I’m not one of them.”

“Was I looking for trouble?
Maybe.”

“Their steady cold gaze gave me a chill.”

“I didn’t want to make people angry at me, I just wanted to have some fun.”

I did like Jay’s motives and his feelings. I understood his desire to get revenge for his dog and trying to figure out what’s up with all the weird lawn gnomes. I enjoyed a self-aware character who tried to do his best, even if he kept messing up. But also, I liked how he leaned into his bad tendencies when he needed to. I just felt like the ending was kind of lame and abrupt, like Stine was really struggling with how to end things and then saw the title and said: "Oh right, that's what this is about!"

This one had potential but it was probably the weakest series starter I've ever read in a Goosebumps.

2.5/5 but I'll round it to 3/5 because I liked Jay.

This is Day #22 of my October Goosebumps Challenge.
Day: 22/31
Books: 22/31

[Book Jester · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a bit difficult to give a fair rating for a book which isn't exactly intended for my age but it is nice to keep a record of what my 8 year-old son and I have read together. My rating reflects my enjoyment of the story and the reading aloud experience.

Anyway - I love R.L. Stine and I have done since I was a pre-teen. My introduction to his books came in the form of the Point Horror series where Stine was one of a group of authors who wrote books intended for teenagers. I absolutely adored these books during my early high school years so it is a real treat to be able to read more of his books to my children.

We read another of the books in this series (Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes) last year so I was pleased to find this one in a charity shop - and it didn't disappoint either of us. These books are exciting to read aloud and are much more to my liking than some of the more modern books we have read (I'm looking at you, David Baddiel and David Walliams). And, as a fan of science fiction stories I absolutely loved the ending of this book, even if my son was a little bit confused by it. Malfunction!

[Marcus Buchanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book Goosebumps Planet of The Lawn Gnomes by R.L. Stine. It is about a 12 year old boy named Jay, and Jay has just moved to a new town with his parents and sister. Almost immediately, things get weird. For one thing, there are lawn gnomes everywhere. And if you turn away for a second, the gnomes are in different positions or even different places. And the people in his neighborhood don't go out at night. When Jay starts questioning this, no one will tell him anything, everyone he asks mumbles "You know" but he doesn't.

I really liked this book because it is very suspenseful and had me guessing. i also liked how it was very descriptive about how the gnomes expressions were like and how it decribed what Jay and Elliot looked like.

I rate this book 10 out of 10 and i recommend this book to people who like goosebumps books.

[Cyrano · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I liked about Planet of the Lawn Gnomes by R.L. Stine was that it showed the main character who’s Jay as a very relatable person. For example, he is not best kid in the world but he is not the worst and he likes excitement and taking small risks at times. Another thing I like about the book is the daydream which Jay turns his mean neighbor into a dog for the neighbor kicking his dog. Another thing I like are the plot twists, one is that Jay’s new friend Elliot is a robot and that his sister Kayla his actually imaginary. The other plot twist is that Jay and the other people he knows were built by the lawn gnomes and have to work for them and that Jay’s real name is Paul-Mar and he doesn’t live on Earth. That is all the things I like about Planet of the Lawn Gnomes by R.L. Stine and I recommend this book to 5th graders and older.

[Allison Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I brought home some books from my school library to read over break so I could be a better librarian for them. I was and always will be a Goosebumps girl. I used to have pretty much the whole paperback series when I was younger, and I hate that I don’t have them now. This story seemed very familiar, even down to the twist ending, but it’s a new Goosebumps series that came out in 2012, so I definitely haven’t read it before. But I know Goosebumps books have a formula, and it’s good and it works, so I can’t say too much about that. I was definitely intrigued and want to read the others we have at school!

[Matt Glaviano · Rating 3 out of 5]

First experience with RL Stine. Narrative was OK. I really disliked the short cliff-hanger endings, personally, but I can see how they could be interesting/encouraging to young readers. The ending felt super abrupt, expanding the world too quickly. That said, Harper dug it, and was truly creeped out by the ending. She's already reading another Goosebumps book, so, mission accomplished, I guess.

Editor's note: apparently I lied about this being the first Goosebumps book I read, having reading one about a snowman earlier this year (clearly it was memorable).

[Ozy Dinky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this a childrens book as is the Goosebumps franchise and that you shouldn't expect too much but comparing to the other goosebumps books this one was really dissapointing. The plot was engaging and keep me reading on but the overall story and ending was quite flat. Compared to the all the other books including the more newer series this one was by the far biggest let down. I will be completing the remaining books I have of the goosebumps franchise but will no longer purchase anymore as they are for children/young teens. (This decision has nothing to do with book read).