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Benjamin Franklin: You've Got Mail
If the Future has any remedy for this situation, do not hesitate to provide it. That is to say, Ike and Claire Wanzandae, HELP! HELP HELP HELP.
I am (perhaps not for long),
Benjamin Franklin
Ike Saturday has seen better days. For one thing, his pen pal, Benjamin Franklin (yes, that Benjamin Franklin), is the target of an angry mob after Ike's plan to help the Founding Fathers with some intel from the future seriously backfired. For another, he's decided to mail himself back in time with the help of his girlfriend, Claire Wanzandae, and it's not a particularly comfortable way to travel.
Once Ike tracks B-Freezy down in 1776, it becomes clear that his pal is less than impressed with the irritating, modern-day rescuer, partially because Ike has a habit of making things worse for Ben, and partially because Ben is incredibly cranky when not in the presence of numerous meat pies. Which speaks to another issue for the pair: they have no money, no food, and basically no plan for saving the country. But Claire won't be able to cover for Ike back home in the future forever, and the British are looking pretty impatient, so Ike and B-Freezy will have to come up with something quickly if they want to avoid an epic, history-destroying disaster.
In this hilarious sequel to Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My . . . , Adam Mansbach and Alan Zweibel take Ike and B-Freezy's antics to the next level as this ill-paired (and sometimes actually ill) duo hold the future of the world in their not-so-capable hands.
I am (perhaps not for long),
Benjamin Franklin
Ike Saturday has seen better days. For one thing, his pen pal, Benjamin Franklin (yes, that Benjamin Franklin), is the target of an angry mob after Ike's plan to help the Founding Fathers with some intel from the future seriously backfired. For another, he's decided to mail himself back in time with the help of his girlfriend, Claire Wanzandae, and it's not a particularly comfortable way to travel.
Once Ike tracks B-Freezy down in 1776, it becomes clear that his pal is less than impressed with the irritating, modern-day rescuer, partially because Ike has a habit of making things worse for Ben, and partially because Ben is incredibly cranky when not in the presence of numerous meat pies. Which speaks to another issue for the pair: they have no money, no food, and basically no plan for saving the country. But Claire won't be able to cover for Ike back home in the future forever, and the British are looking pretty impatient, so Ike and B-Freezy will have to come up with something quickly if they want to avoid an epic, history-destroying disaster.
In this hilarious sequel to Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My . . . , Adam Mansbach and Alan Zweibel take Ike and B-Freezy's antics to the next level as this ill-paired (and sometimes actually ill) duo hold the future of the world in their not-so-capable hands.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published May 2, 2017
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Adam Mansbach
56 books388 followersAdam Mansbach is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Go the Fuck to Sleep, as well as the novels Rage is Back, The End of the Jews (winner of the California Book Award), and Angry Black White Boy, and the memoir-in-verse I Had a Brother Once. With Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel, he co-authored For This We Left Egypt, a finalist for the Thurber Award for American Humor, and the bestselling A Field Guide to the Jewish People. Mansbach's debut screenplay, for the Netflix Original BARRY, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an NAACP Image Award, and he is a two-time recipient of the Reed Award and the American Association of Political Consultants' Gold Pollie Award, for his 2012 Obama/Biden campaign video "Wake The Fuck Up" and his 2020 Biden/Harris campaign ad "Same Old," both starring Samuel L. Jackson. Mansbach's work has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Esquire, The Believer, The Guardian, and on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, The Moth Storytelling Hour, and This American Life. His next novel, The Golem of Brooklyn, will be published by One World in September.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 1, 2017
This is a funny and patriotic book about time travel, founding fathers, and harebrained ideas. It's the second book in the series, so make sure your child starts with that one.
In this installment, Ike decides to mail himself back to Benjamin Franklin's era in order to save the founding father from a mess that Ike created in the first book. Of course, Ike ends up mostly causing more trouble and is generally a pest, but he comes up with some brilliant (if morally questionable) schemes along the way that could save the day.
It's told through vignettes, letters, and Benjamin Franklin's journal entries. Because of the unique format, readers get a look into the personality of each character and what they think of each other. It makes for a pretty funny book that kids in middle school will love.
Content: Some crude humor and perilous situations (PG).
Source: Thank you to Disney Publishing for sending me an ARC of this book.
In this installment, Ike decides to mail himself back to Benjamin Franklin's era in order to save the founding father from a mess that Ike created in the first book. Of course, Ike ends up mostly causing more trouble and is generally a pest, but he comes up with some brilliant (if morally questionable) schemes along the way that could save the day.
It's told through vignettes, letters, and Benjamin Franklin's journal entries. Because of the unique format, readers get a look into the personality of each character and what they think of each other. It makes for a pretty funny book that kids in middle school will love.
Content: Some crude humor and perilous situations (PG).
Source: Thank you to Disney Publishing for sending me an ARC of this book.
February 23, 2021
Fun and hilarious
“What is important is that the letter arrived in BF’s mailbox in the year 1776. And once we both stopped not believing who the other person was, BF and I became pen pals. It turned out we had a lot in common, because my junior high school is a vipers’ nest of backbiting and clique-building and fart jokes, and Colonial politics is exactly the same.”
“I made my way up the block with my heart hammering against my chest, half expecting all the people and even the horses to stop short at the sight of me and start pointing and whispering. But that type of thing never actually happens in real life, not even in Colonial times. We just think that way because each and every one of us secretly believes we’re the center of the universe, with nobody, including yours truly, actually bothering to remember that the other guy is just as caught up in his own life and feelings as you are in yours, and so we just barrel around acting like toolboxes all the time.”
“What is important is that the letter arrived in BF’s mailbox in the year 1776. And once we both stopped not believing who the other person was, BF and I became pen pals. It turned out we had a lot in common, because my junior high school is a vipers’ nest of backbiting and clique-building and fart jokes, and Colonial politics is exactly the same.”
“I made my way up the block with my heart hammering against my chest, half expecting all the people and even the horses to stop short at the sight of me and start pointing and whispering. But that type of thing never actually happens in real life, not even in Colonial times. We just think that way because each and every one of us secretly believes we’re the center of the universe, with nobody, including yours truly, actually bothering to remember that the other guy is just as caught up in his own life and feelings as you are in yours, and so we just barrel around acting like toolboxes all the time.”
December 27, 2017
Hilarious!
February 15, 2018
Interesting story about a young child going back in time to help Benjamin Franklin figure out how to win the Revolutionary war.
Want to read
October 9, 2017I received a copy of this book from Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews