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Emperor of the Universe #1
Emperor of the Universe
The launch of a madcap space adventure trilogy for young readers by David Lubar, author of the popular Weenies Tales!
When seventh grader Nicholas V. Landrew, his beloved pet gerbil Henrietta, and a package of ground beef are beamed aboard an alien space ship, they soon find themselves on the run in a madcap chase across the universe.
Now all Nicholas wants to do is get back home before his parents find out and ground him forever, but with the Universal Police hot on his trail, that won't be easy. Before it's all over, Henrietta will find herself safely ensconced back in her cage, Nicholas will be crowned Emperor of the Universe, and something even more surprising will happen to the package of ground beef.
"This book is ridiculous! Ridiculous crazy fun ... and deep truth." --Jon Scieszka, bestselling author of the Time Warp Trio series
"What do you get when you combine a 7th grader, a gerbil, a package of ground beef, and an alien space ship on a chase across the universe? David Lubar's latest masterpiece, of course!" --Dan Gutman, bestselling author of the My Weird School series
"David Lubar's Emperor of the Universe is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for middle school!" --Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee
When seventh grader Nicholas V. Landrew, his beloved pet gerbil Henrietta, and a package of ground beef are beamed aboard an alien space ship, they soon find themselves on the run in a madcap chase across the universe.
Now all Nicholas wants to do is get back home before his parents find out and ground him forever, but with the Universal Police hot on his trail, that won't be easy. Before it's all over, Henrietta will find herself safely ensconced back in her cage, Nicholas will be crowned Emperor of the Universe, and something even more surprising will happen to the package of ground beef.
"This book is ridiculous! Ridiculous crazy fun ... and deep truth." --Jon Scieszka, bestselling author of the Time Warp Trio series
"What do you get when you combine a 7th grader, a gerbil, a package of ground beef, and an alien space ship on a chase across the universe? David Lubar's latest masterpiece, of course!" --Dan Gutman, bestselling author of the My Weird School series
"David Lubar's Emperor of the Universe is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for middle school!" --Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee
368 pages, Hardcover
First published July 2, 2019
14 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
David Lubar
107 books244 followersDavid Lubar created a sensation with his debut novel, Hidden Talents, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Thousands of kids and educators across the country have voted Hidden Talents onto over twenty state lists. David is also the author of True Talents, the sequel to Hidden Talents; Flip, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror selection; several short story collections: In the Land of the Lawn Weenies, Invasion of the Road Weenies, The Curse of the Campfire Weenies, The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies, and Attack of the Vampire Weenies; and the Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series. Lubar grew up in Morristown, New Jersey, and he has also lived in New Brunswick, Edison and Piscataway, NJ, and Sacramento, CA. Besides writing, he has also worked as a video game programmer and designer. He now lives in Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidl...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidl...
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 9, 2019
Whenever a book claims to be an homage to something as phenomenal as The Hitchhiker's Guide, I'm always starting from a place of skepticism. However, I think Lubar has done an excellent job of capturing the wit and tone of Douglas Adams without trying too hard to BE Douglas Adams. This will be a great first foray into the ridiculousness of the universe for middle graders.
July 29, 2019
I did not finish this book. If you are a fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you will recognize many characters, themes, and events. I love Hitchhiker's but even that could not make me want to continue reading. The narrator needs to come up for air and contradictions abound in the story. I have very strong feelings about this book, but they are all negative. I'm sure it's just me though. I am a huge fan of Dav Pilkey as well but found few reasons why his fans would love this book as advertised on NetGalley.
October 20, 2023
Copy provided by Edelweiss Plus
Seventh grader Nicholas V. Landrew, whose parents are touring in Australia as part of the Beagles Beetles' tribute bad, has been suspended for bringing a light saber to school. He didn't threaten anyone with it; he just wanted to hear the fantastic whooshing sound it would make in the gymnasium. He is suspended, and manages to get himself some alone time by telling the two adults who are supposed to watch him (his Aunt Lucy, who is a Marine, and his Uncle Bruce, who teaches juggling) that he is staying with the other person. Unfortunately, when he is home, his pet hamster Lucy is suddenly zapped by a strange light and disappears! He puts a pound of hamburger in the cage, and when that is also zapped, he carefully stands inside as well, and begins his wonderful and sometimes terrifying adventure! He ends up on a Craborzian ship, where he stomps on the caterpillars with tentacles that are threatening him, getting him wanted for murder, and also activates their GollyGosh! a device which grants sentience to both Henrietta and the pound of hamburger, which Nick names Jeef. When a Menmarian pirate and social media influencer named Clave takes over the ship, he helps the three escape, saying that Nick is supposed to be taken to central Klizmick to meet with the president. Nick has been chosen to lead a battle because of the Craborzi massacre, and is considered a fierce fighter. Of course, he's still just a seventh grader who wants to text his parents and find a way to get home while taking some of Clave's cargo of "scrap" gold with him! There are a lot of adventures, including being approached to obliterate the Zefinorians, meeting Morglorb, a sort of intergalactic publicist, almost getting caught on a self-destructing plante, and getting Spott, a singer, back to his home planet. When Nick is summoned by the Syndics after the death of Zril, the Emperor of the Universe, Nick is hailed as his replacement, while Jeef (who almost exploded because he was, after all, unrefrigerated ground beef) is one with the universe.
I struggle with fantasy books at the best of times. While I read Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe (the book that inspired Lubar to write this series) back in 2002, it made no sense whatsoever to me. I do know many seventh grade boys, however, who are ENORMOUS fans, and deem it to be enlightening and worth memorizing. I am not the target audience for this book; those boys are. It is perfect for them.
The page illustrations (I think by Adam Markum) are often very helpful (I was having trouble envisioning the Craborzi), and add a bit of levity to a rather dark space adventure. This seemed like an odd choice at first, until I remembered some of the illustrated novels that my students have written. Think of John Wilson's essay Exploding Noddy. Violence to a tween is stomping Craborzi and blowing up whole planets without thinking too much about the details. The illustrations capture Nick's youthful experience perfectly, and have that feel of being penned in the back of a math notebook during study hall that will resonate with the target demographic.
There are many chapters in between the action that site back story, and this is a great way to stuff even more amusing nonsense into a book already brimming with odd characters and humorous highjinks. I wasn't quite sure which characters would become important and which wouldn't, which gave this book a distinct feeling of free fall. I'm a librarian. I read books to disect them (like the Craborzi!) and explain them. Middle grade readers read to be inspired and delighted, and will let the seemingly haphazard events and characters wash over them. I've seen other adult reviewers who complain that this isn't well written. It is, in fact, brilliantly written for a specific audience, who will delight in sentences like "smelled like a mixture of candy corn and budget-priced window cleaner" and in the fact that Jeef was produced from a Mennonite farm, so is "Holy Cow".
Now that Nick's phone can pull energy from the universe, he can talk to his gerbil, and the universe isn't going to self destruct right away, he will be able to set out to end all of the pointless the pointless wars. Readers of books like Gratz's League of Seven, O'Donnell's Space Rocks, and Wilson's Me vs. the Multiverse will want to hop back on the nearest friendly spaceship and go along for the frenetic ride.
Seventh grader Nicholas V. Landrew, whose parents are touring in Australia as part of the Beagles Beetles' tribute bad, has been suspended for bringing a light saber to school. He didn't threaten anyone with it; he just wanted to hear the fantastic whooshing sound it would make in the gymnasium. He is suspended, and manages to get himself some alone time by telling the two adults who are supposed to watch him (his Aunt Lucy, who is a Marine, and his Uncle Bruce, who teaches juggling) that he is staying with the other person. Unfortunately, when he is home, his pet hamster Lucy is suddenly zapped by a strange light and disappears! He puts a pound of hamburger in the cage, and when that is also zapped, he carefully stands inside as well, and begins his wonderful and sometimes terrifying adventure! He ends up on a Craborzian ship, where he stomps on the caterpillars with tentacles that are threatening him, getting him wanted for murder, and also activates their GollyGosh! a device which grants sentience to both Henrietta and the pound of hamburger, which Nick names Jeef. When a Menmarian pirate and social media influencer named Clave takes over the ship, he helps the three escape, saying that Nick is supposed to be taken to central Klizmick to meet with the president. Nick has been chosen to lead a battle because of the Craborzi massacre, and is considered a fierce fighter. Of course, he's still just a seventh grader who wants to text his parents and find a way to get home while taking some of Clave's cargo of "scrap" gold with him! There are a lot of adventures, including being approached to obliterate the Zefinorians, meeting Morglorb, a sort of intergalactic publicist, almost getting caught on a self-destructing plante, and getting Spott, a singer, back to his home planet. When Nick is summoned by the Syndics after the death of Zril, the Emperor of the Universe, Nick is hailed as his replacement, while Jeef (who almost exploded because he was, after all, unrefrigerated ground beef) is one with the universe.
I struggle with fantasy books at the best of times. While I read Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe (the book that inspired Lubar to write this series) back in 2002, it made no sense whatsoever to me. I do know many seventh grade boys, however, who are ENORMOUS fans, and deem it to be enlightening and worth memorizing. I am not the target audience for this book; those boys are. It is perfect for them.
The page illustrations (I think by Adam Markum) are often very helpful (I was having trouble envisioning the Craborzi), and add a bit of levity to a rather dark space adventure. This seemed like an odd choice at first, until I remembered some of the illustrated novels that my students have written. Think of John Wilson's essay Exploding Noddy. Violence to a tween is stomping Craborzi and blowing up whole planets without thinking too much about the details. The illustrations capture Nick's youthful experience perfectly, and have that feel of being penned in the back of a math notebook during study hall that will resonate with the target demographic.
There are many chapters in between the action that site back story, and this is a great way to stuff even more amusing nonsense into a book already brimming with odd characters and humorous highjinks. I wasn't quite sure which characters would become important and which wouldn't, which gave this book a distinct feeling of free fall. I'm a librarian. I read books to disect them (like the Craborzi!) and explain them. Middle grade readers read to be inspired and delighted, and will let the seemingly haphazard events and characters wash over them. I've seen other adult reviewers who complain that this isn't well written. It is, in fact, brilliantly written for a specific audience, who will delight in sentences like "smelled like a mixture of candy corn and budget-priced window cleaner" and in the fact that Jeef was produced from a Mennonite farm, so is "Holy Cow".
Now that Nick's phone can pull energy from the universe, he can talk to his gerbil, and the universe isn't going to self destruct right away, he will be able to set out to end all of the pointless the pointless wars. Readers of books like Gratz's League of Seven, O'Donnell's Space Rocks, and Wilson's Me vs. the Multiverse will want to hop back on the nearest friendly spaceship and go along for the frenetic ride.
June 24, 2019
A boy, his gerbil, and two pounds of ground beef find themselves at the center of David Lubar’s loopy and witty intergalactic funfest!
Seventh grader Nicholas V. Landrew of Yelm, Washington, is no ordinary kid, but it’s not his fault (if it were, he’d take responsibility – he’s that kind of kid, thanks to author David Lubar). His parents – one half of a Beatles parody group called the Beegles who, of course, wear beagle masks and sing Beatles songs involving dogs – are on tour in Australia, and having been bounced between Aunt Lucy and Uncle Bruce, neither of whom really want to deal a twelve-year old, Nicholas finds himself in a life-changing situation.
While rummaging through the refrigerator, he discovers his pet gerbil Henrietta isn’t in his shirt pocket, where she normally is. At first, he doesn’t think much of it, but after taking out a “two-pound family-sized package of vacuum-sealed fresh-ground hamburger meat” and placing it in Henrietta’s cage, a laser-bright flash of purple light (just like the earlier one he hadn’t seen that had abducted Henrietta) makes the meat disappear. So, what’s kid to do but squeeze into the cage and hope he’ll be able to find Henrietta? (And the meat.)
Transported to somewhere in the galaxy – or some galaxy – Nicholas recovers Henrietta, who by the grace of space can speak and is surprisingly snarky, and the meat, who also by the grace of space can speak and has fleeting memories of its previous life somewhere like a meadow. To rescue his, um, friends, he is forced to stomp on the Craborzi (caterpillar-like aliens with tentacles sporting claws), killing them (with regret), in order to make an escape. And that’s where the chase for Nicholas, Destroyer of Worlds, begins all over, all across, and all around the universe, in a get-away spacecraft courtesy of a social-media-follower-crazed Menmarian space pirate named Clave, who posts his exploits and whereabouts every chance he gets.
During Clave’s stops around the universe, Nicholas meets or evades Yewpees, Zefinorans, Beradaxians, Zengs, Theribans, and other outlandishly shaped aliens. He has a conversation with a leader who has assumed the name President Nixon and meets his Vice President, Gluteus Sofacushion. He is schmoozed by a talent agent named Morglob Sputum. Meanwhile, the Emperor of the Universe, His Hugeness Zrilber Monospokidokapusimus, is dying.
Nicholas learns about and experiences planet scorchers, hyperjumps, j-cubes, and an Amazon-like mega-corporation called Thinkerator. And yet, throughout these madcap adventures, Nicholas tries (sometimes successfully and most times frustratingly) to apply diplomacy, logic, and desperate kindness, turning his once-fugitive status into something … to be continued in the next installment.
Nicholas, on the surface, is a typical seventh grade kid who casually embraces the strangeness of his homelife, loves sci-fi movies, and is curious about the world around him. With those attributes, it’s not so bizarre to find him fighting off blobby aliens or strange beings that, in their own ways, are fighting for survival in this tip-of-the-hat to Douglas Adams. Blanks are filled in between chapters by a ubiquitous, omniscient narrator who lectures-not lectures, giving the reader additional information about and insights into the places and beings found along this lively and mind-bending journey.
It’s a wild ride from here to there and back again, filled with humor and punctuated with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Although the cover art speaks to readers younger than the content’s target, kids who crave the different, the adventurous, the truly zany, out-there tales of worlds unknown to mere mortals, will gravitate toward this first entry of hold-onto-your-hat-(and-your-gerbil-and-your-two-pounds-of-ground-beef) excitement. Phew!
Book Two of the trilogy is under construction at this time. No publication date is available.
https://whenlooseendsmeet.com/2019/06...
Seventh grader Nicholas V. Landrew of Yelm, Washington, is no ordinary kid, but it’s not his fault (if it were, he’d take responsibility – he’s that kind of kid, thanks to author David Lubar). His parents – one half of a Beatles parody group called the Beegles who, of course, wear beagle masks and sing Beatles songs involving dogs – are on tour in Australia, and having been bounced between Aunt Lucy and Uncle Bruce, neither of whom really want to deal a twelve-year old, Nicholas finds himself in a life-changing situation.
While rummaging through the refrigerator, he discovers his pet gerbil Henrietta isn’t in his shirt pocket, where she normally is. At first, he doesn’t think much of it, but after taking out a “two-pound family-sized package of vacuum-sealed fresh-ground hamburger meat” and placing it in Henrietta’s cage, a laser-bright flash of purple light (just like the earlier one he hadn’t seen that had abducted Henrietta) makes the meat disappear. So, what’s kid to do but squeeze into the cage and hope he’ll be able to find Henrietta? (And the meat.)
Transported to somewhere in the galaxy – or some galaxy – Nicholas recovers Henrietta, who by the grace of space can speak and is surprisingly snarky, and the meat, who also by the grace of space can speak and has fleeting memories of its previous life somewhere like a meadow. To rescue his, um, friends, he is forced to stomp on the Craborzi (caterpillar-like aliens with tentacles sporting claws), killing them (with regret), in order to make an escape. And that’s where the chase for Nicholas, Destroyer of Worlds, begins all over, all across, and all around the universe, in a get-away spacecraft courtesy of a social-media-follower-crazed Menmarian space pirate named Clave, who posts his exploits and whereabouts every chance he gets.
During Clave’s stops around the universe, Nicholas meets or evades Yewpees, Zefinorans, Beradaxians, Zengs, Theribans, and other outlandishly shaped aliens. He has a conversation with a leader who has assumed the name President Nixon and meets his Vice President, Gluteus Sofacushion. He is schmoozed by a talent agent named Morglob Sputum. Meanwhile, the Emperor of the Universe, His Hugeness Zrilber Monospokidokapusimus, is dying.
Nicholas learns about and experiences planet scorchers, hyperjumps, j-cubes, and an Amazon-like mega-corporation called Thinkerator. And yet, throughout these madcap adventures, Nicholas tries (sometimes successfully and most times frustratingly) to apply diplomacy, logic, and desperate kindness, turning his once-fugitive status into something … to be continued in the next installment.
Nicholas, on the surface, is a typical seventh grade kid who casually embraces the strangeness of his homelife, loves sci-fi movies, and is curious about the world around him. With those attributes, it’s not so bizarre to find him fighting off blobby aliens or strange beings that, in their own ways, are fighting for survival in this tip-of-the-hat to Douglas Adams. Blanks are filled in between chapters by a ubiquitous, omniscient narrator who lectures-not lectures, giving the reader additional information about and insights into the places and beings found along this lively and mind-bending journey.
It’s a wild ride from here to there and back again, filled with humor and punctuated with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Although the cover art speaks to readers younger than the content’s target, kids who crave the different, the adventurous, the truly zany, out-there tales of worlds unknown to mere mortals, will gravitate toward this first entry of hold-onto-your-hat-(and-your-gerbil-and-your-two-pounds-of-ground-beef) excitement. Phew!
Book Two of the trilogy is under construction at this time. No publication date is available.
https://whenlooseendsmeet.com/2019/06...
November 6, 2023
3.5 Stars. Adventure and science fiction aren’t exactly in my comfort zone, they’re genres I just occasionally dip my toe into and maybe it’s for that reason that this felt a little on the long side, but for the most part, I was entertained.
There were moments where I wondered at lead character Nicholas scarcely reacting to the increasingly bizarre situations he’s thrown into, like winding up in outerspace, creatures talking who ordinarily wouldn’t, being the target of a pursuit, etc., there was a lot of unusual stuff happening here and it barely phases this kid. I did at times crave a little more of a response from him to these strange events, but the actual intended middle-grade audience will probably have an easier time identifying with Nicholas’s ability to go with the flow than I do as an adult.
This isn’t a graphic novel, but I could see this potentially appealing to those readers with its light sprinkling of illustrations and the frequent and often quite smart laughs all throughout this adventure.
Since my reading sensibilities lean toward the emotional, the friendships were my happiest place in this book, I loved Nicholas’s bond with his gerbil Henrietta, and to my surprise, the author even had me sharing Nicholas’s fondness for Jeef, a package of ground beef, not only a uniquely memorable character, but one I cared about more than anyone else. They’re a group that I’ll look forward to catching up with in the other books in this trilogy whenever I’m in the right mood for a little something different.
There were moments where I wondered at lead character Nicholas scarcely reacting to the increasingly bizarre situations he’s thrown into, like winding up in outerspace, creatures talking who ordinarily wouldn’t, being the target of a pursuit, etc., there was a lot of unusual stuff happening here and it barely phases this kid. I did at times crave a little more of a response from him to these strange events, but the actual intended middle-grade audience will probably have an easier time identifying with Nicholas’s ability to go with the flow than I do as an adult.
This isn’t a graphic novel, but I could see this potentially appealing to those readers with its light sprinkling of illustrations and the frequent and often quite smart laughs all throughout this adventure.
Since my reading sensibilities lean toward the emotional, the friendships were my happiest place in this book, I loved Nicholas’s bond with his gerbil Henrietta, and to my surprise, the author even had me sharing Nicholas’s fondness for Jeef, a package of ground beef, not only a uniquely memorable character, but one I cared about more than anyone else. They’re a group that I’ll look forward to catching up with in the other books in this trilogy whenever I’m in the right mood for a little something different.
September 5, 2019
This reminds me of people who thought Eragon was a wonderful, original series instead of the poorly written Star Wars fan fiction it was.
This is apparently supposed to be a homage to the immortal Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But though Lubar is an adequate writer, there was and is only one Douglas Adams and Lubar doesn't have his storytelling skills.
So, like Eragon, this will be fresh and new to a 12 year old who hasn't read Adams.
And perhaps that 12 year old, one day in the future, will read the real thing and realize that they read this pastiche in their youth, and that it wasn't as good.
But, as usual, shame on the librarians, booksellers, teachers and reviewers who have read the real thing, and would let kids settle for this.
This is apparently supposed to be a homage to the immortal Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But though Lubar is an adequate writer, there was and is only one Douglas Adams and Lubar doesn't have his storytelling skills.
So, like Eragon, this will be fresh and new to a 12 year old who hasn't read Adams.
And perhaps that 12 year old, one day in the future, will read the real thing and realize that they read this pastiche in their youth, and that it wasn't as good.
But, as usual, shame on the librarians, booksellers, teachers and reviewers who have read the real thing, and would let kids settle for this.
July 3, 2019
ARC provided by MacMillan via NetGalley for an honest review.
I always enjoy David Lubar’s books. They are always fun with great characters and plots. This one is right on the mark for middle grade students who are looking for some entertaining science fiction.
I really like Nicholas. He just really wants to do the right thing, but somehow that always seems to backfire on him. It really isn’t his fault that the aliens he meets interpret his intentions so wrongly. And it all started with a simple misunderstanding too. But Nicholas takes it all in stride, even when a package of ground meet starts to talk to him! I’m not sure I could have been so smooth with that one.
Henrietta was perfect. She talked and acted exactly like I imagined a gerbil would if they could talk. She was a great sidekick and really helped Nicholas out when he needed it. Jeef was a bit harder to take. I just wasn’t sure about how a package of ground beef could suddenly be sentient, but I just decided to go with it. Jeef made for an interesting character.
Nicholas becomes friends with two aliens who were fun to read about. Clave was a social media hound who rescued Nicholas and helps him to understand and navigate through the universe. He was also funny and clever, even though his obsession to always be posting often got them into trouble. Spot was also a good hearted character that often helped Clave and Nicholas out of some tight spots.
The plot was well done, with good pacing and lots of action. Some of the science could be questionable, but the creativity of the worlds and cultures that Nicholas encounters certainly makes up for that. The style is definitely a homage to Douglas Adams. He gets the humor and fun of Hitchhikers Guide without becoming Douglas Adams. Most middle schoolers will not get this, but as an adult I thought it was fabulous. It might get some kids interested in Douglas Adams books which is always a plus.
Overall, this was a fantastically funny read that kept a smile on my face even after I was done.
https://elnadesbookchat.com
I always enjoy David Lubar’s books. They are always fun with great characters and plots. This one is right on the mark for middle grade students who are looking for some entertaining science fiction.
I really like Nicholas. He just really wants to do the right thing, but somehow that always seems to backfire on him. It really isn’t his fault that the aliens he meets interpret his intentions so wrongly. And it all started with a simple misunderstanding too. But Nicholas takes it all in stride, even when a package of ground meet starts to talk to him! I’m not sure I could have been so smooth with that one.
Henrietta was perfect. She talked and acted exactly like I imagined a gerbil would if they could talk. She was a great sidekick and really helped Nicholas out when he needed it. Jeef was a bit harder to take. I just wasn’t sure about how a package of ground beef could suddenly be sentient, but I just decided to go with it. Jeef made for an interesting character.
Nicholas becomes friends with two aliens who were fun to read about. Clave was a social media hound who rescued Nicholas and helps him to understand and navigate through the universe. He was also funny and clever, even though his obsession to always be posting often got them into trouble. Spot was also a good hearted character that often helped Clave and Nicholas out of some tight spots.
The plot was well done, with good pacing and lots of action. Some of the science could be questionable, but the creativity of the worlds and cultures that Nicholas encounters certainly makes up for that. The style is definitely a homage to Douglas Adams. He gets the humor and fun of Hitchhikers Guide without becoming Douglas Adams. Most middle schoolers will not get this, but as an adult I thought it was fabulous. It might get some kids interested in Douglas Adams books which is always a plus.
Overall, this was a fantastically funny read that kept a smile on my face even after I was done.
https://elnadesbookchat.com
November 1, 2019
I listened to this one, and it suffered as a result. To many "saids" after dialogue. This really sticks out when you listen to a book, whereas if you are reading, you don't register the saids, said Charlotte.
March 26, 2019
This is a really great book, and I recommend that you read it! It's the perfect combination of action-packed and humorous, and I believe that everyone will love this great book.
Read
October 3, 2019Coujld not get pass a few chapters. Will come back to this another time.
December 30, 2019
Perfect as a middle grade introduction to Douglas Adams style sci-fi.
March 16, 2020
It was fun. I don't know why it took me forever to read.
December 21, 2021
Did not enjoy. The book itself started weird, but then transformed into something just incomprehensible. I mean, a talking bag of beef? a bunch of aliens? How would anyone find this entertaining?
January 1, 2022
Kids will totally love this! Creative and fun! Can't wait for the sequel. The only problem I had with it was the exclamation chapters-a lot of unnecessary.
March 11, 2025
Fun homage to "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Energetic and fast-paced wacky humor and adventure.
Want to read
April 23, 2025J FIC LUBAR, D.
May 17, 2019
I cannot count how many times I laughed out loud while reading this book or how many times I have told people a random nugget from it since I have finished reading it. As a huge fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I was very excited for this book and it did not let me down. It was so much sillier and weirder than I ever could have expected. I never knew that I needed a book featuring a self-aware and conscious package of ground beef. Buried within the laughs and silly stories are great reminders of how to be a good person in the world (or universe in this case). This book will teach kids morals without them feeling like they are learning anything. PLUS, I now know what is causing all of those random traffic jams!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews