What do you think?
Rate this book
My Near-Death Adventures #1
My Near-Death Adventures (99% True!)
For history lovers and journal fans comes a story about a boy on a mission to find his long-lost father in the logging camps of Michigan.
There are many things that 11-year-old Stanley Slater would like to have in life—most of all, a father. But what if Stan’s missing dad isn’t “dearly departed” after all?
Armed with his stupendous scrapbook, full of black-and-white 19th-century advertisements and photos, Stan’s attempt to locate his long-lost hero/cowboy/outlaw dad is a near-death adventure fraught with pesky relatives, killer lumberjacks, and poisonous pies! His tale will leave readers in stitches, but not the kind that require medical attention.
There are many things that 11-year-old Stanley Slater would like to have in life—most of all, a father. But what if Stan’s missing dad isn’t “dearly departed” after all?
Armed with his stupendous scrapbook, full of black-and-white 19th-century advertisements and photos, Stan’s attempt to locate his long-lost hero/cowboy/outlaw dad is a near-death adventure fraught with pesky relatives, killer lumberjacks, and poisonous pies! His tale will leave readers in stitches, but not the kind that require medical attention.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published February 24, 2015
32 people are currently reading
736 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
February 25, 2015
Children’s historical fiction novels often divide up one of two ways. In the first category you have your important moments in history. In such books our heroes run about and encounter these moments by surprise. Extra points if it happens to be a Great Big Bad Moment in history as well. Then in the second category are the books that have opted to go a more difficult route. They may be well grounded in a time period of the past, but they do not require historical cameos or Great Big Bad Moments to transport their readers. Such books run a very great risk of, quite frankly, becoming dull. Read enough of them and, with the exception of a few, they all run together. Humor often helps me distinguish them from the pack. After all, would Catherine Called Birdy command quite so many hearts and minds if it weren’t also deeply amusing? Still, it’s rare to find fiction set in the past for kids that’s quite that original. It takes a certain kind of devious brain to hit on an all-new take. Enter My Near-Death Adventures by Alison DeCamp. Falling squarely into the second category rather than the first, this 1895 charmer utilizes plenty of visuals along with an unreliable narrator and classic comedic setting. I can say with certainty that your kids will never read a work of lumberjack fiction quite as fast and funny as this ever again.
Well, sir, it looks like Stan’s found himself in a heap of trouble. First off there’s the difficulty with his dead father. The problem? He’s not dead. He’s nowhere around, and now he seems to have divorced Stan’s mama, but dead he is not. Then there’s the fact that it’s the middle of winter yet Stan's mama and his 95% evil Granny (her percentage fluctuates a lot) are packing him up and they're all heading up to some godforsaken lumber camp in the middle of nowhere. Of course, that’s good for Stan since he’s been hoping to build up his manly skills so that he can support his mama. Unfortunately his cousin Geri, who seems to revel in torturing him, will be there as well. Can Stan fight off his mother’s multiple suitors, keep his eye on the lumberjack he’s dubbed “Stinky Pete”, and learn to be a man (if Geri doesn’t kill him first) all at once? If anyone can, it’s Stan. Probably.
Humor in historical fiction can come across as a case where the contemporary author is shoehorning his or her own beliefs onto characters from the past. Often when this happens it feels fake. I remember once reading a children’s novel set in the Civil War South where an enterprising young woman, with no outside influences, actually said, “Corsets don’t just restrict the waist. They restrict the mind,” or something equally out of left field. So to what extent are anachronisms a threat in books of this sort? For example, would someone like Stan really have called his cousin "Scary Geri"? For me, I don’t worry as much about the small details. If the language isn’t strictly of the late 19th century variety then who in the Sam Hill cares? (Forgive my language, granny.) It’s the big things (like mind restricting corsets) that catch my eye. With that in mind, I was somewhat relieved when I realized that Stan is a sexist jerk. He quite believably does not look on women’s accomplishments as something to commend (which, in turn, is an interesting way of building up sympathy for his cousin Geri). In other words, he's of his time.
To bring the funny, DeCamp does two things I’ve not seen done in works of historical fiction before. The first involves a ton of late 19th/early 20th century advertisements. Using the conceit that this is Stan’s scrapbook, each image makes some kind of commentary on what Stan is describing. They’re also hilarious. I cannot help but imagine the countless hours DeCamp spent poring through advertisement after advertisement. One wonders if there were parts of the narrative wholly reliant on the existence of one ad or another. Hard to say.
The second clever and hitherto unknown thing DeCamp does with her storytelling is to make Stan an unreliable narrator with unreliable narration. Which is to say, you’ll be reading his private thoughts on the page when suddenly another character will comment on what clearly should have been kept inside Stan’s brain. The end result is that the reader will lapse into a continual sense of security, safe in the knowledge that what they’re reading isn’t dialogue (after all, there aren’t any quotation marks) and then, exactly like Stan, the reader will be shocked when someone comments on information they shouldn’t know anything about. It really puts you directly into Stan’s shoes and helps to make him more relatable. Which is good since he runs the risk of being considered unsympathetic as a character.
Unreliable as a narrator, potentially unsympathetic as a human being, Stan still wins our love. Why? He’s Kid Falstaff! A coward you root for and love, yet still don’t always approve of. Still, even in the depths of his own delusion, how can you not love the guy? He’s a Yooper Telemachus fending unworthy suitors off of his mama. And even when you’ve taken almost all you can take from the guy, you’ll find him saying something like, “This is the furthest I’ve ever felt from being a man. All I really want to do is cuddle up in bed and have Mama read me a book. Or play with the toy soldiers still lined up on my windowsill in the apartment house. But I can’t. Because that’s not manly, and being manly is the only way I’ll ever understand my father . . .” Poor kid.
A good author, by the way, allows their supporting characters some personal growth as well. It doesn’t all have to come from the protagonist, after all. In this particular case it’s Stan’s mama, a character that could easily have just been some passive, maternal bit of nothingness, who comes into her own. For years she’s been held down pretty effectively by her own mother. Now she has a chance at making a bit of a life for herself, choosing her own mate (or not choosing, as the case may be), and generally having a bit of fun. I know no kid reading this book is going to care, but I appreciated having someone other than Stan learn and grow.
I sit here secure in the knowledge that somewhere, at some time, an enterprising adult (be it teacher, parent, or librarian) will take it upon themselves to actually follow Mrs. Cavanaugh’s recipe for Vinegar Pie. The recipe is right there in black and white in the book, clear as crystal. If you have any goodness in your heart and you are tempted to tread this path, here is a bit of advice: don’t. It’s called Vinegar Pie, for crying out loud! What part of that sounds appetizing? You know what is appetizing? This book. Hilarious and heartbreaking and funny funny funny. You know what you hand a kid that gets the dreaded, “Read one work of historical fiction” assignment in school? You hand them this and then sit back to wait for their inevitable gratitude. They may never say thank you to your face, but you’ll be able to rest safe and secure in the knowledge that they loved this book. Or, at the very least, found it enticing and intriguing. 99-100% fantastic.
For ages 9-12.
Well, sir, it looks like Stan’s found himself in a heap of trouble. First off there’s the difficulty with his dead father. The problem? He’s not dead. He’s nowhere around, and now he seems to have divorced Stan’s mama, but dead he is not. Then there’s the fact that it’s the middle of winter yet Stan's mama and his 95% evil Granny (her percentage fluctuates a lot) are packing him up and they're all heading up to some godforsaken lumber camp in the middle of nowhere. Of course, that’s good for Stan since he’s been hoping to build up his manly skills so that he can support his mama. Unfortunately his cousin Geri, who seems to revel in torturing him, will be there as well. Can Stan fight off his mother’s multiple suitors, keep his eye on the lumberjack he’s dubbed “Stinky Pete”, and learn to be a man (if Geri doesn’t kill him first) all at once? If anyone can, it’s Stan. Probably.
Humor in historical fiction can come across as a case where the contemporary author is shoehorning his or her own beliefs onto characters from the past. Often when this happens it feels fake. I remember once reading a children’s novel set in the Civil War South where an enterprising young woman, with no outside influences, actually said, “Corsets don’t just restrict the waist. They restrict the mind,” or something equally out of left field. So to what extent are anachronisms a threat in books of this sort? For example, would someone like Stan really have called his cousin "Scary Geri"? For me, I don’t worry as much about the small details. If the language isn’t strictly of the late 19th century variety then who in the Sam Hill cares? (Forgive my language, granny.) It’s the big things (like mind restricting corsets) that catch my eye. With that in mind, I was somewhat relieved when I realized that Stan is a sexist jerk. He quite believably does not look on women’s accomplishments as something to commend (which, in turn, is an interesting way of building up sympathy for his cousin Geri). In other words, he's of his time.
To bring the funny, DeCamp does two things I’ve not seen done in works of historical fiction before. The first involves a ton of late 19th/early 20th century advertisements. Using the conceit that this is Stan’s scrapbook, each image makes some kind of commentary on what Stan is describing. They’re also hilarious. I cannot help but imagine the countless hours DeCamp spent poring through advertisement after advertisement. One wonders if there were parts of the narrative wholly reliant on the existence of one ad or another. Hard to say.
The second clever and hitherto unknown thing DeCamp does with her storytelling is to make Stan an unreliable narrator with unreliable narration. Which is to say, you’ll be reading his private thoughts on the page when suddenly another character will comment on what clearly should have been kept inside Stan’s brain. The end result is that the reader will lapse into a continual sense of security, safe in the knowledge that what they’re reading isn’t dialogue (after all, there aren’t any quotation marks) and then, exactly like Stan, the reader will be shocked when someone comments on information they shouldn’t know anything about. It really puts you directly into Stan’s shoes and helps to make him more relatable. Which is good since he runs the risk of being considered unsympathetic as a character.
Unreliable as a narrator, potentially unsympathetic as a human being, Stan still wins our love. Why? He’s Kid Falstaff! A coward you root for and love, yet still don’t always approve of. Still, even in the depths of his own delusion, how can you not love the guy? He’s a Yooper Telemachus fending unworthy suitors off of his mama. And even when you’ve taken almost all you can take from the guy, you’ll find him saying something like, “This is the furthest I’ve ever felt from being a man. All I really want to do is cuddle up in bed and have Mama read me a book. Or play with the toy soldiers still lined up on my windowsill in the apartment house. But I can’t. Because that’s not manly, and being manly is the only way I’ll ever understand my father . . .” Poor kid.
A good author, by the way, allows their supporting characters some personal growth as well. It doesn’t all have to come from the protagonist, after all. In this particular case it’s Stan’s mama, a character that could easily have just been some passive, maternal bit of nothingness, who comes into her own. For years she’s been held down pretty effectively by her own mother. Now she has a chance at making a bit of a life for herself, choosing her own mate (or not choosing, as the case may be), and generally having a bit of fun. I know no kid reading this book is going to care, but I appreciated having someone other than Stan learn and grow.
I sit here secure in the knowledge that somewhere, at some time, an enterprising adult (be it teacher, parent, or librarian) will take it upon themselves to actually follow Mrs. Cavanaugh’s recipe for Vinegar Pie. The recipe is right there in black and white in the book, clear as crystal. If you have any goodness in your heart and you are tempted to tread this path, here is a bit of advice: don’t. It’s called Vinegar Pie, for crying out loud! What part of that sounds appetizing? You know what is appetizing? This book. Hilarious and heartbreaking and funny funny funny. You know what you hand a kid that gets the dreaded, “Read one work of historical fiction” assignment in school? You hand them this and then sit back to wait for their inevitable gratitude. They may never say thank you to your face, but you’ll be able to rest safe and secure in the knowledge that they loved this book. Or, at the very least, found it enticing and intriguing. 99-100% fantastic.
For ages 9-12.
September 29, 2014
I absolutely loved this warm, engaging, and clever debut -- and if you want a study in voice, this is it.
Stan is an almost-12 year old who relocates to a lumber camp with his mother and his (99.9% evil) Granny, where he's forced to struggle with the definition of manhood, ward off his pesky cousin, and finally come to accept certain truths about his family. The novel was both a fast and fun read of Stan's tall-tales and mischief at the camp, as well a careful, coming-of-age story of a boy trying to figure out who he is, and who he wants to be. DeCamp handles the balance brilliantly, and Stan's voice was simply perfect.
As a bonus, the novel is accompanied by Stan's journal of pictures and notes, which are both adorable and hilarious. I don't often read middle grade, and I devoured this. Highly recommend!
Stan is an almost-12 year old who relocates to a lumber camp with his mother and his (99.9% evil) Granny, where he's forced to struggle with the definition of manhood, ward off his pesky cousin, and finally come to accept certain truths about his family. The novel was both a fast and fun read of Stan's tall-tales and mischief at the camp, as well a careful, coming-of-age story of a boy trying to figure out who he is, and who he wants to be. DeCamp handles the balance brilliantly, and Stan's voice was simply perfect.
As a bonus, the novel is accompanied by Stan's journal of pictures and notes, which are both adorable and hilarious. I don't often read middle grade, and I devoured this. Highly recommend!
July 27, 2015
Sadly, I don't read a lot of middle grade (that isn't about the fairies that my daughter is obsessed with), so I was a little worried when I got this manuscript that I wouldn't be the ideal audience for it. But here is a little truth I learned while reading:
Everyone is the ideal audience for this book.
It doesn't matter if you're not big into historicals or don't care for logging/lumberjacks or even if you have an aversion to near-death and/or adventures. The main character in this story is so charming and hilarious and lovable, you can't help but fall into his narrative. I would pretty much read any story this character wanted to tell me. Also, the illustrations (I've only seen a few at this point) are super cute and go perfectly with the story.
Super fun. Definitely put this on your buy-it list.
Everyone is the ideal audience for this book.
It doesn't matter if you're not big into historicals or don't care for logging/lumberjacks or even if you have an aversion to near-death and/or adventures. The main character in this story is so charming and hilarious and lovable, you can't help but fall into his narrative. I would pretty much read any story this character wanted to tell me. Also, the illustrations (I've only seen a few at this point) are super cute and go perfectly with the story.
Super fun. Definitely put this on your buy-it list.
January 17, 2015
I love Stan. How can you not? He’s funny, charming, and vulnerable all wrapped up in a super manly package. Just look at those muscles on the cover! Seriously, Alison DeCamp had me laughing from the start and throughout the novel. I stopped writing notes in the ARC because I would have filled the page with LOLs and smiley faces. Really. Reading DeCamp’s debut novel is like a master class in “voice” because she Stan’s is distinct and doesn’t waver at all throughout the novel. This is a sweet, fun story about a boy trying to become a man that will be loved by many. If you are a middle grade parent, teacher, or librarian, this one should definitely be on your shelf.
December 8, 2014
So. Much. Fun. I loved this! It is a--get this--humorous historical. I can honestly say I've never read anything like it. Stan is a hilarious narrator, and his story is peppered with old-timey photos and ads that he's captioned for his scrapbook. This book is so original, and just a delight to read.
October 5, 2014
Hilarious on a thousand different levels, and that's only the prose and characters.
I would have still loved this book without the wonderful scrapbook angle. The accompanying photo defacements just make this something extra special.
I would have still loved this book without the wonderful scrapbook angle. The accompanying photo defacements just make this something extra special.
September 17, 2014
Wonderful! An absolute JOY!!
January 11, 2015
History, adventure, and the laugh-out-loud funny – I mean, extremely manly! - Stanley Slater take center stage in this debut novel from Alison DeCamp. Stan is quite sure he’ll be able to track down his missing father if he can prove his manliness, dodge the bossy women in his life, and participate in the dangerous lumber camp River Drive. Readers will quickly fall for Stan’s antics and the artistic license he employs in both his storytelling and scrapbook, as well as the colorful and strong-willed women that tuck him in at night.
January 12, 2015
When I heard this book described as a "historical Diary of a Wimpy Kid" I knew I had to read it. Stan's voice and the scrapbook he uses to catalog his adventures in a 19th century logging camp had me hooked from start to finish. Spread throughout the book are historical photos, advertisements, and cartoons--along with Stan's handwritten commentary--which made this one of the most unique reading experiences I've had lately. Filled with kid-friendly historical details, tons of adventures, and lots of clever, voicey humor, this book is sure to engage middle grade readers.
January 6, 2015
Fabulously funny! Stan has this deadpan delivery--not cracking jokes so much as calling it like he sees it--in a logging camp full of burly men and bossy women. However, he's serious enough about having a deadbeat dad and, in his father's absence, finding out what it means to be a man. Good lessons for youngsters in here, delivered with a generous amount of humor, bittersweet (and hysterically funny) letters, and some great old photographs (complete with Stan commentary/graffiti).
June 4, 2014
Readers will be drawn in by Stan's humor, but the will fall in love with his heart. History is woven with wit and charm-- using real ads from Stan's "scrapbook"-- and the cast of secondary characters will leave you cheering for more stories from granny, mama, Geri, and stinky pete. Equal parts laughter and truths, this is one of those books that will stick with you in the best of ways.
July 21, 2015
THIS BOOK. I loved it in about 98 different ways, the 98th being that it's absolutely hysterical. Also: it's charming and heartfelt and adorable. BRAVO, Allison DeCamp.
March 14, 2017
Eh.. this book was ok. It got better at the end but I had a hard time reading it
January 12, 2015
Surprisingly, I still like this book. Even though I've read it and reread it a billion times.
Want to read
May 26, 2015Saw in SLJ, looks fun--compared to Homer figg; takes place in Michigan; logging & lumberjacks; "lively and folksy"
March 18, 2017
When the big name book reviewers gush, I tend to put on my caution lights, and they were justified here. As another reviewer here so aptly described this, it's sort of like "Huck Finn, sanitized."
There is a nice background story to this, and some great bits. But there's too much going on, the "aw, gosh," storytelling is pretty annoying, and why does every author since the "Wimpy Kid" books think that you have to either put cartoons or "scrapbook" pictures, or some other bells and whistles in there?
The title will draw kids in. Will it keep them reading, and want at least 1 sequel? We will see.
There is a nice background story to this, and some great bits. But there's too much going on, the "aw, gosh," storytelling is pretty annoying, and why does every author since the "Wimpy Kid" books think that you have to either put cartoons or "scrapbook" pictures, or some other bells and whistles in there?
The title will draw kids in. Will it keep them reading, and want at least 1 sequel? We will see.
July 10, 2015
I really wanted to like this book. I think the main reason that I didn't was not so much the fault of the story, but of some of the editing choices.
The main character, Stanley, is a sort of "Walter Mitty" type who spends most of the book using an internal dialogue; however, much of the time he is actually thinking out loud. The problem is that there is no quotes, so the reader has a hard time following the story. It would be much easier to have the inner dialogue be in italics or some alternate font.
I did like the scrapbook images from the 1800s. I did like the idea of the letters from his father, and even though I know it was supposed to feel like something written with a fountain pen, I found the font a little hard to read.
I'm not sure to whom I would recommend this book... I think the target audience is upper elementary and middle school aged boys, who would like wimpy kid, but I'm not sure that it will really hold their attention.
The main character, Stanley, is a sort of "Walter Mitty" type who spends most of the book using an internal dialogue; however, much of the time he is actually thinking out loud. The problem is that there is no quotes, so the reader has a hard time following the story. It would be much easier to have the inner dialogue be in italics or some alternate font.
I did like the scrapbook images from the 1800s. I did like the idea of the letters from his father, and even though I know it was supposed to feel like something written with a fountain pen, I found the font a little hard to read.
I'm not sure to whom I would recommend this book... I think the target audience is upper elementary and middle school aged boys, who would like wimpy kid, but I'm not sure that it will really hold their attention.
March 28, 2015
I really wanted to like this one, and I am so obviously in the minority here, because I was pretty meh about it until about 50-75 pages from the end. I even made my local library order this book after reading Betsy’s review, because I have found all her previous reviews of books I’ve read to so closely match my opinions, that I was sure to love it, or at least like it a lot. Here’s the rating breakdown on GR as of this posting: 31 5-stars, 4 4-stars, 4 3-stars, 1 2-star, and 1 1-star, which comes to a 4.54 average. That’s quite possible the highest rating I’ve ever seen for a book.
Read the rest of my review here on Leafmarks.
Read the rest of my review here on Leafmarks.
March 21, 2015
Fantastic. Funny historical fiction set in my backyard. I now want to write funny historical fiction set in my backyard. But it would never be this good! I'll just have to wish I'd written this. Wow, do I wish I'd written this...
July 8, 2015
Fun read.
November 2, 2015
It's like someone tried to sanitize Huck Finn.
May 24, 2015
Alison DeCamp's skewed humor reminds me of the oddball Ole and Lena jokes I heard growing up, you betcha. Eleven-year-old Stan Slater is like dumb Ole and the women, Geri and Granny in particular, are like Lena who tends to be the smart one. Ole and Lena make language mistakes all the time and Stan does too. He's either thinking out loud and scrambling to cover inappropriate comments, an overactive imagination, or doing something dumb. This is more sophisticated than Ole and Lena jokes - part of the fun with those two is using a silly accent and broken English. Here, Stan is trying to come to terms with a dad he thought was dead, but actually abandoned him and his mom right after his birth. He writes imaginary letters to himself from his dad and collects advertisements and images of the time with irreverent captions in a scrapbook adding a comedic depth and flavor of what it was like during 1895.
Stan is like one big, overdramatic exclamation point. He's weird. He's funny. He's annoying. He's sexist. He's outwitted, protected, and bullied by the women in his life. And despite these shortcomings he manages to be endearing. Stan's mother along with his cranky Granny, go to work at a logging camp because they are short on cash. Geri, Stan's cousin, picks on him because he is so easy to scare. She wants to be a doctor and convinces him at several points he has yellow fever, quinsy, or a made-up disease. He falls for it every time. She also plays pranks on him or talks him into doing something stupid. He's an easy target for her and when Stan tries to get her back it backfires. They are the roadrunner and coyote with Stan continually falling off the cliff.
Stan's mom is one of the only woman at camp and has three suitors vying for her affections. She gets a bit frustrated when people keep telling her how to raise Stan. Eventually, she stands up to the well-intentioned advice people dole out ranging from her mother to the lumberjacks. She originally married Stan's dad on the advice of her mom, the evil Granny as Stan likes to call her. He gives her an Evil Rating that drops every time she does something nice for him.
Stan is an unreliable narrator that likes to use the phrase, "I am a whiz at... (fill in the blank). I don't mind saying." He's not a whiz at anything. He's a whiz at getting into trouble and reminds me of a whirligig beetle gyrating in the water. He pees outside the door of the cabin because he doesn't want to go to the outhouse in the cold weather. He decides a lumberjack is his dad because he has blue eyes, whistles, and has a nose like him. He's convinced another lumberjack is a murderer and calls him "Stinky Peter" even though he has been nothing but kind to Stan. He takes comments literally and misunderstands or pretends to misunderstand most of them. When his grandma says it is so cold that the "squirrels wear knickers" he can't believe how unladylike she's being.
Stan wants to be a tough man, but he is the opposite - he's afraid of werewolf stories, wears flowered aprons, scrubs pots, even wears his Granny's sock when his goes missing. When the sock shows up he still wears his granny sock. He wants to find his dad so desperately that he makes up letters written by him by his dad. They have Stan's dad humorously commenting on the women in his life and having adventures around the world as an explorer, outlaw, or cowboy in the Wild West.
Stan reflects the sexist attitudes of the times. He calls Granny "woman" and asks "...where is my chow," then clears his throat and spits. He thinks this is how a man acts. Granny gives him a towel to clean up his spit. He doesn't think girls can be doctors, but when he needs stitches he trusts Geri over a man and he is obsessed with being a manly man. He draws whiskers on his face in hopes of being a man. He sticks his tongue on cold metal horse-head hitching posts. At the height of being a ridiculous "chowderhead," he reveals something introspective and he goes from annoying to endearing. Like letting Geri stitch him up. Or saying he is only being manly so he can understand his father and why he abandoned them. The end shows that he understands being a man means being responsible.
The author plays with writing conventions in an original way that strengthens Stan's unreliable character. Stan struggles with this "thinking-in-your-head business" and never quite gets it right. There are no quotations to signal when Stan is thinking out loud or when he is thinking in his head. A character will answer and that is the clue to the reader that Stan said it out loud. It reinforces the author's point that Stan is an unreliable narrator that because of his inexperience in the world, cannot be believed when he makes observations or statements.
This book reminds me of "Timmy Failure," but instead of graphics drawn by the author there are vintage photos with funny captions reflecting Stan's state of mind. The photos are from his scrapbook, but they give a taste of what the 1800's was like with their goofy advertisements. When Stan muses about men and their beards (and how they all look alike) there is a photo of how to trim your beard a bazillion different ways. When Stan tips the outhouse on an unsuspecting adult there is an advertisement for a toilet mask. Not only is this funny, but it adds greatly to the historical setting in a visual way that I have never seen before in a children's book.
Great slang words, similes, and metaphors bounce throughout the narration. Geri is described as "Her eyebrows squeeze together so tightly it looks like two hairy caterpillars are having a conversation on her forehead." Or "...her voice, as cold as the frost I like to scrape off the windows with my fingernail." Don't be "bamboozled" by the "catwampus" humor because it is not all "balderdash" or "poppycock" but shows hope that a goofy boy can grow up into a decent human being. Stan is a whiz at being dorky. I don't mind saying.
Stan is like one big, overdramatic exclamation point. He's weird. He's funny. He's annoying. He's sexist. He's outwitted, protected, and bullied by the women in his life. And despite these shortcomings he manages to be endearing. Stan's mother along with his cranky Granny, go to work at a logging camp because they are short on cash. Geri, Stan's cousin, picks on him because he is so easy to scare. She wants to be a doctor and convinces him at several points he has yellow fever, quinsy, or a made-up disease. He falls for it every time. She also plays pranks on him or talks him into doing something stupid. He's an easy target for her and when Stan tries to get her back it backfires. They are the roadrunner and coyote with Stan continually falling off the cliff.
Stan's mom is one of the only woman at camp and has three suitors vying for her affections. She gets a bit frustrated when people keep telling her how to raise Stan. Eventually, she stands up to the well-intentioned advice people dole out ranging from her mother to the lumberjacks. She originally married Stan's dad on the advice of her mom, the evil Granny as Stan likes to call her. He gives her an Evil Rating that drops every time she does something nice for him.
Stan is an unreliable narrator that likes to use the phrase, "I am a whiz at... (fill in the blank). I don't mind saying." He's not a whiz at anything. He's a whiz at getting into trouble and reminds me of a whirligig beetle gyrating in the water. He pees outside the door of the cabin because he doesn't want to go to the outhouse in the cold weather. He decides a lumberjack is his dad because he has blue eyes, whistles, and has a nose like him. He's convinced another lumberjack is a murderer and calls him "Stinky Peter" even though he has been nothing but kind to Stan. He takes comments literally and misunderstands or pretends to misunderstand most of them. When his grandma says it is so cold that the "squirrels wear knickers" he can't believe how unladylike she's being.
Stan wants to be a tough man, but he is the opposite - he's afraid of werewolf stories, wears flowered aprons, scrubs pots, even wears his Granny's sock when his goes missing. When the sock shows up he still wears his granny sock. He wants to find his dad so desperately that he makes up letters written by him by his dad. They have Stan's dad humorously commenting on the women in his life and having adventures around the world as an explorer, outlaw, or cowboy in the Wild West.
Stan reflects the sexist attitudes of the times. He calls Granny "woman" and asks "...where is my chow," then clears his throat and spits. He thinks this is how a man acts. Granny gives him a towel to clean up his spit. He doesn't think girls can be doctors, but when he needs stitches he trusts Geri over a man and he is obsessed with being a manly man. He draws whiskers on his face in hopes of being a man. He sticks his tongue on cold metal horse-head hitching posts. At the height of being a ridiculous "chowderhead," he reveals something introspective and he goes from annoying to endearing. Like letting Geri stitch him up. Or saying he is only being manly so he can understand his father and why he abandoned them. The end shows that he understands being a man means being responsible.
The author plays with writing conventions in an original way that strengthens Stan's unreliable character. Stan struggles with this "thinking-in-your-head business" and never quite gets it right. There are no quotations to signal when Stan is thinking out loud or when he is thinking in his head. A character will answer and that is the clue to the reader that Stan said it out loud. It reinforces the author's point that Stan is an unreliable narrator that because of his inexperience in the world, cannot be believed when he makes observations or statements.
This book reminds me of "Timmy Failure," but instead of graphics drawn by the author there are vintage photos with funny captions reflecting Stan's state of mind. The photos are from his scrapbook, but they give a taste of what the 1800's was like with their goofy advertisements. When Stan muses about men and their beards (and how they all look alike) there is a photo of how to trim your beard a bazillion different ways. When Stan tips the outhouse on an unsuspecting adult there is an advertisement for a toilet mask. Not only is this funny, but it adds greatly to the historical setting in a visual way that I have never seen before in a children's book.
Great slang words, similes, and metaphors bounce throughout the narration. Geri is described as "Her eyebrows squeeze together so tightly it looks like two hairy caterpillars are having a conversation on her forehead." Or "...her voice, as cold as the frost I like to scrape off the windows with my fingernail." Don't be "bamboozled" by the "catwampus" humor because it is not all "balderdash" or "poppycock" but shows hope that a goofy boy can grow up into a decent human being. Stan is a whiz at being dorky. I don't mind saying.
July 6, 2020
Gee Whiz! This was a lot of work. (Unreliable) narrator and (anti) hero Stan speaks and thinks in old-timey similes and metaphors. Non-stop.
The book (not really a story) is advanced by thousands of phrases such as these: as nervous as a June bug in a henhouse, as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, as bored as a pacifist’s pistol.
Thousands. Well, maybe hundreds.
Some are funny, some tortured, but none is believable because Stan is not a quirky kid with a gift for observation or words. He’s an idiot.
The book contains 2.5 normal, real conversations, but they come after page 175. I can’t see myself recommending this book to a kid.
The book (not really a story) is advanced by thousands of phrases such as these: as nervous as a June bug in a henhouse, as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, as bored as a pacifist’s pistol.
Thousands. Well, maybe hundreds.
Some are funny, some tortured, but none is believable because Stan is not a quirky kid with a gift for observation or words. He’s an idiot.
The book contains 2.5 normal, real conversations, but they come after page 175. I can’t see myself recommending this book to a kid.
September 11, 2017
A clever, funny story of main character Stan who spends his days in a 19th-century logging camp in the UP with his momma and sharp-tongued grandmother, speculating about what happened to his long-lost father, and dreaming of the day when he'll appear back on the scene. The ephemera throughout the book are even more whimsical with the addition of the author's witty commentary written in the margins. Great book! This might appeal to graphic novel fans who have outgrown Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries.
November 28, 2017
This book gets a 94.9 % perfect score; Stan's concrete thinking sometimes strained credibility, earning it four instead of five stars. Nevertheless, this is a minor blip in an otherwise laugh-out-loud funny, moving, and attention-grabbing story with a likeable protagonist, engaging secondary characters, and an ending that will satisfy like a piece of bacon -- or pie -- unless it's Mrs. Cavanaugh's dreadful vinegar pie! The author's inclusion of interesting and humorous historical images offers a fun and unique glimpse into our past!
May 14, 2021
My district provided this book for our classroom libraries. It's not my thing.
It reminded me of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children with the graphics and the strong element of imagination. I didn't care all that much for that series either.
I think it's a well-written book; it's just not my thing.
It reminded me of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children with the graphics and the strong element of imagination. I didn't care all that much for that series either.
I think it's a well-written book; it's just not my thing.
November 13, 2017
I was a little confused at that beginning as it was hard to tell when the main character was talking and when he was thinking things, it made more sense as you read on, but was hard to initially get into the book. Most of the kids in the book club didn't finish the book:(
June 3, 2017
I loved Alison DeCamp's short story in Funny Girl. This story is so much fun. It takes a little bit to get used to the language and rhythm of the book, but it is completely worth it.
August 28, 2018
This was the book of the month for our local library book club. It was quite entertaining for this Yooper, especially as I was reading it while I was in the UP visiting my mom.
Read
January 2, 20201895
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews