Unbelievably Boring Bart

by James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski (Contributor)

There's more than meets the eye in James Patterson's newest illustrated middle grade novel--a book so fun kids will actually put down their games to read it!

Invisible creatures are attacking the school, and 12-year-old Bartholomew Bean is the only one who can stop them!
Okay, so maybe Bart is only a hero in the video game app he created. But if he reveals his identity as the genius behind the game, he'll become the most popular kid in school! Or he could secretly use the game to get back at his bullies...
Press Button A: Reveal
Press Button B: Revenge
Which would you choose?

Genres: Middle Grade, Audiobook, Video Games, Childrens, Science Fiction, School, Action

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Official US Site
Official UK Site
JIMMY Patterson Books
ReadKiddoRead

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time and the creator of such unforgettable characters and series as Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Michael Crichton, as well as collaborated on #1 bestselling nonfiction, including The Idaho Four, Walk in My Combat Boots, and Filthy Rich. Patterson has told the story of his own life in the #1 bestselling autobiography James Patterson by James Patterson. He is the recipient of an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

Reviews

[Caressa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars
Unbelievably Boring Bart is a middle grade story about Bartholomew Bean. Bart may seem like the world's most boring person, but he's actually the creator and only player of Hecklr, his own augmented reality app where he has to fight aliens to save the world. When his game catches on, how will he handle its newfound popularity and protect his secret identity?

UBB was very middle of the road as a middle grade novel. While it featured fun illustrations and the fun, wonderful absurdity revered in the MG genre, the story felt poorly organized. While it didn't diminish the fun of reading the novel, the story easily could have been 1/3 of the length and a little more action packed. With that being said, the layout of the book made each new chapter/section feel exciting and new.

The story is marketed as a transition from screen to page for young readers. While the story is not a realistic representation of game design and its extreme difficulties, it is a fun, imaginative idea that is sure to engage children who may have more experience with games than books. While it may not be the next Golden Compass or Secret Garden, UBB is a fun middle grade read that has the potential to resonate with young, tech-savy readers.

[Luke]

awesome

[Thomas Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably Boring Bart is about a kid named Bartholomew Bean that lives next to Hollywood. It sounds great, but when you're the only normal kid among stars, you get ignored and bullied a lot. That is the case with Bart, as nobody pays attention to him except for bullies. However, the only thing he cares about is his augmented reality game that he made called Hecklr. Everyday, he works on it and plays it alone, until one day, a kid at his school played the game and it went viral! The best part was, nobody knew who the creator was except for Bart! If he reveals that he is the creator, he would become the coolest kid in school! Or, he could get back at his bullies secretly... I definitely would recommend this book to kids that like humor and creativity. Throughout the entire book, I was smiling and always wanted to read more. Readers can see what other kid's lives could be like. Overall, I think this book deserves a five stars, just as almost all Jimmy Patterson books should be as well.

[B.J. Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I just turned 37 years old a few days ago, I had no trouble finding the main character, Bart, relatable. I was heavily bullied starting in middle school and throughout high school, and many times I felt like nobody knew that I even existed in the world. Bart is very interesting character that should appeal to children, especially those who feel like they are an outcast.

The main plot involves Bart creating a game app that becomes popular in his school. Surprisingly, he never takes credit for the creating the game.

Like most James Patterson's books, the chapters are short, which will help young readers to keep turning the pages to see what's going to happen next. The illustrations by Xavier Bonet are very detailed and somewhat resembles a comic book.

Overall, I pleasantly enjoyed reading Unbelievably Boring Bart. It's a well written children's book with a fun story, likeable characters, witty dialogue, and exciting illustrations.

[Leslee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read books weekly to a 4th grade class and it's difficult to find books that will engage both girls AND boys. I found this book charming, enlightening, and funny! It also addressed the subject of divorce, moving away from what is familiar, an athletic single dad raising a nerdy, tech savvy son, and bullying. Xavier Bonet's illustrations are charming and heeeeeeelarious: "Sub anterior thorax - quadruple jointed gristle stump - paracutaneous knuckle duster"! There's a lovely subplot about a friendship that develops between Bart and a mysterious neighbor. It's mind-boggling how prolific a writer James Patterson is and the fact that he can create a mystery for young readers that is tech savvy and timely is impressive. After reading this book to the class I will donate it to the classroom library in hopes that it will inspire others to become life-long fans of Mr. Patterson. Thanks Goodreads! I'm so glad I won this book!

[Danette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quickly read this before gifting it to my nephew. It was a fun little read. I want to see what my nephew thinks still.

[Olena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, twists and turns, but overall enjoyable.

[D'ale lui Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibil de plictisitorul Bart James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski

În viața conteaza CUM îți folosești talentele, mintea sclipitoare, le poți folosi să ajuți oamenii, nu să-i rănesti...lectia învățată de Bart.

Bartholomew Bart, elev în gimnaziu, ne asigură că nu este deloc plictisitor, dar trebuie să citim pentru a descoperi creaturi ciudate, evadări la limită, hakeri, distrugere globală.

Din cauza schimbării locului de muncă a tatălui său, s-au mutat în Rancho Verdugo, lângă L.A -Hollywood, adică un oraș plin de copii ai celebrităților, cu o majoritate covârsitoare de copii renumiți. El este cel diferit de restul, atât de diferit încât unii profesori uită să-i strige numele când citesc catalogul, nu-l văd când ridică mână, dar nu este invizibil si pentru agasanții de: (Giselle-Golum), Nick -Mimul, Tigran- Tiranul.

Cel mai bun prieten al lui Bart, poate fi considerat telefonul, primit cadou la împlinirea varstei de 12 ani, urmând laptop-ul primit de la mama sa. De ce laptopul? Pentru că a constuit un joc bazat pe realitate augumentată. Larkienii pot fi observați numai dacă este instalată aplicatia Tachinare-r.

Simțind compasiune față de vecina care este nevoită să facă școală on-line, care nu iese deloc din camera ei, îi dă și acesteia jocul. Nu știm, dar bănuim cum ajunge jocul să fie diponibil pentru a fi download si astfel ajunge să fie pe toate device-urile locuitorilor din Rancho-Vertudo, de la adulti, la copii. Acest joc se poate juca numai aici în Rancho, iar pentru că a creat o isterie generală, se organizează un joc on-line în curtea scolii lui Bart.

Bineînțeles că tatăl lui nu stie cu ce inventii de ocupă Bart, din contră, este la fel ca orice adult din zilele noastre, încearcă să scoată copilul la plimbare, la o înghețată, tocmai pentru a nu petrece copilul timp mult în fața ecranelor.


Curioși de deznodământ? Cititi-o!!!

[Mark Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

My name is Bart, and I've moved with my dad to a city near Los Angles. I'd be happy at my new school if everyone ignored me, but the bullies have other plans. I don't have any friends, unless you count CyberGirl03 living in my apartment complex. I spend most of my time secretly coding an augmented reality app called Hecklr. I shared it with CyberGirl03, but I don't know how the kids at school got a hold of it. I was shocked and proud when the app went viral, and now everyone around town is hunting the Lerkian aliens. We even have tourists from out of town converging on our city! It's kind of cool to see people looking into their Smartphones, searching for the little creatures. All of this attention is keeping me busy with creating updates and debugging the program, but I'm afraid I'll be discovered. What will happen if people realize I'm the boring loser behind this fantastic app?

You'll really like this book if you've enjoyed the humor found in other James Patterson books. It's told from a first person point of view, so you'll be inside Bart's brain. As described above, he wants to remain inconspicuous like many middle grade students, but his app draws interest from across the nation. Many people would relish the opportunity to be special and famous, but Bart's kind of shy. The bully problem is a very important factor in his life, but they're the only students who ever notice him. Much of his attention goes toward avoiding them or dealing with their conflicts. Even though I found the book fun to read, I must admit I wasn't sure where the plot was headed. The conflict didn't create major tension, and the events revolved around Hecklr. So where did the plot end up? It settled on a fun and funny story of a young boy trying to anonymously make his mark in an uncomfortable world. Overall, it was a quick-read of an entertaining adventure, and I recommend you check it out.

[EdenB15 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book out of my library last week with high expectations as I am a big James Patterson fan. I was definitely not disappointed and read this book in 2 days as I was hooked on the story. Would recommend for younger readers but as a adult I also rlly enjoyed it

[Joey Gremillion · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unbelievably boring book

[Molly Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bartholomew Bean is the most boring middle schooler in the whole world... or is he? Bart Bean moves to a new school right outside of LA, with some of the most talented middle school kids in the United States. He claims to be the most boring person in the school, that is until he creates the most popular alien-fighting app that sweeps the whole town. Now Bart must decide if he comes out as the apps creator or if he should continue living in the shadows of the big stars at his school.

This book is so funny! I love James Patterson, and this book made me love him even more. The way this book is written, as though Bart is talking to the reader, sometimes not even trusting the reader, is so engaging and interactive. I would put this book in a middle school classroom and expect it to never be on the shelf. It is that fun! This would be a good book to tie in the idea that everyone has different talents and can be used to show how those differences makes us each unique.

[SA · Rating 4 out of 5]

My youngest son is dyslexic, but always has at least one book on him. We've always read together. As he's gotten older, he's gravitated to graphic novels, when he reads on his own. I'm just happy that he is still a reader, even with his struggles. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see him grab this book on his own volition, to take as his book of choice to read on his own. We'd read the first few chapters together, the night prior, and I was enjoying it myself. Personally, after he finished the book on his own, I had to borrow it, so I could find out what happened too. I will look for more books in the series for my son, as he finds them interesting enough that he will choose to read them, even with his struggles with his dyslexia.


Please note, I won this book, and under no obligation to provide a review. Thank you.

[Philip N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably Boring Bart written by author James Patterson is a book about a boy who creates a video game. Bart used to live in Philadelphia when his dad got a divorce from his mom.So he and his dad moved to California in a little scorching town called Rancho Palos Verdes.There he had to go to a new school where bullies teased him but he didn't mind. At the end of the day he goes to his room and continues working on his game.The next day at school one of the bullies stole his phone and published the game on purpose. Days later Bart finds out that his game has become popular in his new town. My opinion about this is that the book is really good. I highly recommend it to young readers who enjoy playing or watching others play video games.

[Green Jazz Blues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bert Bean moves to a place right next door to Hollywood - All the other kids at school seem to have talents that make them stand out but poor Bert seems to be pretty boring and uninteresting - unless you are let into his incredible secret - he's a coding ninja.
Whilst I have no experience in playing electronic games, this story is a real blast. It is as good as the other story by James Patterson I've read - Not So Normal Norbert.

[Finnley · Rating 3 out of 5]

My favorite character is Bart because he is the main character in the story and he is funny and it is interesting to which him in this story.

I was surprised when I found out that the monsters were not real.

I would change the ending to 5 years in the future Bart has reviled himself as the creator of the game and has made it a global game because I thought you should leave on a higher note.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story about a boy named Boring Bart (aka Bart Bean) who has secretly invented a cell phone app where you can hunt aliens. Even as Bart continues to be bullied at school the game becomes a massive hit. Bart hopes to seek revenge against his tormentors while keeping his secret from the world.

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's the start of a new series featuring Bartholomew Bean, the most boring kid in middle school.

Except Bart is spending part of his time battling interplanetary aliens and part of it coding on his I-phone.

Maybe he's not so boring after all. This one could turn into something. (Hey, there's even a key person in a wheelchair!)

[Marybet Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, now I know why I can't get my Smartboard to work! It is the Lerkians. I can't wait to share this book with my 4th grade students on Monday. Maybe one of them will get the idea to create their own game.

[Aiden Gilbert]

I think the book was good because I like games and Bart makes a game and has to hide it from every body because he don't want people to know that he made it. Also he met this girl that was in a wheel chair and he shared the game with her and she spread it around the school.

[Angelic Crocker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up for my son, and decided I would read it for myself. It's a cute read, and totally a good fit for middle-school boys, who know what it's like to be bullied and who have a love for gaming. I can't wait to hear what my son has to say about this one.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in the Goodreads giveaway. My daughter really enjoyed it.

[Malak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm absolutely obsessed with this book it is so good. I especially loved the last chapters because they were so interesting.

[Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has a lot of secrets at the start.

[Daneen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute! I read it with my son who adored it!! Great for kids who love to play tech! Cute story!

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Asher (13yo) read.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such as fun story.

[Dean Italiano · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found a lot wrong with this book. I understand that descriptions are meant for a young audience, but the long and drawn-out goofy descriptions of things pulled me out of the story and were too much at times.

I was disappointed that they weren't actually going to battle aliens, but that our main character had invented an alien version of a Pokemon phone game, and the "Snapchat" ripoff to communicate to each other was presented as a groundbreaking and unique tool.

I didn't find the revenge-on-bullies story unique or untactful as the bullies were cardboard characters.

It was a very quick read, which usually would be a bonus but I skimmed some repetition, as well. And I know some writer's who tackle stories for this age make the parents and teachers doofuses, but that makes me roll my eyes at best.

So, what did I like? CyberGirl03 was cool, and should have had a MUCH bigger role in the story. I also found it charming that the Dad continuously tried to reconnect with his son, despite the difference in their interests.

Not a hit for me, but I know I'm not the target audience, it might appeal to kids in grades three and up.

[Jessica Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun book for young readers that is the perfect mix of humor and adventure to keep readers turning the pages!

When Bartholomew Bean and his father move to a new town, he feels himself becoming invisible. He creates a game with invisible creatures that surround the school and town and the only way to see them is through a game on the phone. He likes staying invisible, and if the kids at school who have been playing the game find out he is the creator, he will become the most popular kid in school.

James Patterson has done it again with another great book for early readers. I love reading these books of his before handing them off to my son to read. For a while after reading Patterson’s adult novels, I got a little bored with his writing and felt like his writing was predictable; but for younger readers these are the perfect stories to get them excited about reading and books. This story is fun and entertaining with a great set of characters and fun storyline perfect for kids and adults to read together and have a bonding experience over reading, doesn’t get much better than that.

[Amy Prosser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setup: nerdy kid who codes in his free time struggles with bullies and feeling disconnected from his father.

I’d recommend this more for late elementary school students than middle schoolers. It might get some video-game-loving kids invested, especially Pokémon Go players, but it’s just an ok book. I would not recommend this book for adults, but at least it’s a quick read.