"Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?"

by Avi

World War II is just background noise for Frankie Wattleson. His life revolves around action-packed radio dramas like "Buck Rodgers" and "The Lone Ranger." Suspense, heroism, thrills -- what more could an American boy want?

Frankie's mom can't stand her son's hobby, though, and neither can his teacher, MissGomez. It all spells doomsday for Frankie -- unless he, disguised as radio detective Chet Barker, can cook up a plan to save the day.

Tune in tomorrow to find out how this hilarious drama unfolds!

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Young Adult, Adventure, Mystery

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Avi is a pen name for Edward Irving Wortis, but he says, "The fact is, Avi is the only name I use." Born in 1937, Avi has created many fictional favorites such as The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Nothing but the Truth, and the Crispin series. His work is popular among readers young and old.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I wasn't expecting such a good book when I picked this one at the library to read with my 10 years-old son. It was a VERY pleasant surprise!

Set in the US during WWII, this is the story of Frankie (short for Franklin Delano Wattleson), a sixth grader crazy about radio shows and avid to save the world with his friend/sidekick Mario Calvino.
The book is all written in dialog form, plus the transcription of radio shows (including those funny commercials!). The style is really innovative.
Although the story is funny, other more "real" situations are present, like Frankie's brother being wounded at the war (and coming back home suffering from depression), Mario's father dying while fighting the war, etc. These events are not display in an upsetting way, though.
I think this book is a great way of introduce historical fiction.
I'll try more Avi's books for sure.

Check out more children's book reviews in my Reviews in Chalk Blog!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Lisa Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avi is not a favorite author of mine. However, his writing has grown on me and I do use this particular book in a radio unit I teach third grade students in library. I love the unique nature of this book. It opens with a scene from a 1940's radio show. There are 7 or 8 total radio scenes in the book (everything from Captain Midnight to Lone Ranger to Green Hornet) as well as the ongoing saga of the main character's alter ego/radio-serial-character "Chet Barker".

Frankie and his best friend, Mario, cope with the reality of 1940's America-at-war by creating their alter egos- Chet Barker and Skipper O'Malley. The reader is treated to the many adventures of Chet and Skipper as well as the real-life adventures of Frankie and Mario as the boys try to solve their problems on the homefront. Is Mr. Swerdlow a spy? Will Chet and Skipper (aka Frankie and Mario) be the superheros who save the nation? Can Frankie get Ms. Gomez to marry his brother thereby passing sixth grade by virtue of his familial ties to her? What happened to Frankie's Uncle Charlie? Will Frankie ever stop listening to the radio and do his own homework? And exactly what ARE the principal products of Australia, anyway?! Learn the answers to all these questions when you read Avi's book, "Who Was that Masked Man, Anyway?".
P. S.-
It's even more fun if you listen to the actual radio broadcasts when you are reading those sections of the book. And if you're planning on introducing it to your students be sure to read up on the perseverance of Avi as an author. It's a good life lesson to share with students.

[Teri Pardue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written entirely as dialogue, I was amazed - and humored - by AVI's ability to pull me into the story. Even without paragraphs of lavish description or the author 'setting the scene' in a way that would draw the reader in or evoke certain emotions, I still found that I had painted a complete picture in my head of Franklin and his home and his family. I wish my grandfather was alive, because I can imagine he would have enjoyed this!

Worth reading through to the end for the punchline!

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading level 6.1

Not the best of Avi's books, the story was alright, but a little sketchy. What I didn't like was the radio show programs they were longer than the story itself, spread intermittently throughout the story, it was so annoying (to me) that I quit reading them halfway through the book.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is the 1940s and World War II is the thing on everyone’s mind except for 12 year old Frankie, short for Franklin Delano Wattleson. Much to the annoyance of his mother and teacher, Miss Gomez, Frankie is obsessed with radio adventures and serials. These radio shows and the heroes they depict - The Shadow, Captain Midnight, Superman, The Lone Ranger and Sky King to name just a few – are what Frankie thinks being a real-life hero is all about. He has even made up a hero persona for himself - Chet Barker, master spy, and a sidekick named Skipper for his best friend Mario Calvino. The trouble is that between heroic adventures on the radio and those of Frankie’s imaginary Chet Barker, he has no time to do his schoolwork.

So Frankie must rely on Mario, who is not only a straight-A student but who also has a radio in his bedroom. This is very convenient for Frankie when he is being punished and is forbidden to listen to the radio at home. All he has to do is secure a board between their bedroom windows and scoot across it to Mario’s room.

Frankie’s brother Tom is in the army and the Wattleson’s have rented his room out to a medical student, Mr. Swerdlow, for extra money. Mr. Swerdlow has been given the radio Frankie used to listen to. Frankie is convinced that if he can prove Mr. Swerdlow is really an evil scientist, he could get his radio back. Frankie has already been punished several times for sneaking into Mr. Swerdlow’s room to look for proof of his evil doing.

When the Wattlesons receive a notice that Tom will be returning home as a result of being wounded, Frankie is told that he will be moving to the basement so that Tom can have his bedroom. Not happy about this, Frankie must come up with a plan to get rid of Mr. Swerdlow so Tom and Frankie can have their rooms back and Frankie will have his radio again.

Things aren’t much better at school. His teacher, Miss Gomez, is also fed up with Frankie’s radio hero adventures. She often punishes him by keeping him sitting in her classroom after school. There, he first discovers she has a boyfriend named Mitch and later that Mitch has been killed in action. She has also told Frankie that if his grades don’t improve, he will be left back and now she wants to meet with his parents. Frankie must now devise a plan to thwart this.

After Tom comes home, he spends his time in Frankie’s room, smoking and listening to ‘sappy’ music on the radio; a complete waste of good radio time as far as Frankie is concerned. Instead, convinced that radio imitates life, Frankie wants to hear all about Tom’s heroic experiences in the war and doesn’t understand why Tom refuses to speak about it. Until Tom gets fed up with Frankie’s constant asking and tells him exactly what it was like the day he was wounded, a very different picture than the one Frankie imagined. It turns out that radio doesn’t even come close to imitating life. Now Frankie wants to come up with a plan to help his brother.

Altogether, Frankie has a lot on his plate to contend with for a 12 year old, but not for Chet Barker, master spy. He spends a lot of time being punished because people are fed up with his obsession with the superhuman escapades of radio heroes. And coming up with workable plans.

There is not exposition at all in this novel. It is written completely in radio dialogue, complete with commercials, and yet it is not at all difficult to tell which dialogue is from Frankie’s life and which is the actual dialogue from a radio program. This method really provides a sense of radio stories were during the war, but also show how easily a child can lose the boundary between reality and fantasy.

At time, Frankie was very funny, but there were times when he really annoyed me. He is completely self-centered, wanting what he wants and disregarding everyone else’s feeling. It is up to his war damaged brother to give him a lesson in reality, telling him what it truly means to fight evil and that it isn’t all heroic in the sense that Frankie’s programs present it to be.

Avi has a great talent for creating a sense of life on the home front during World War II for his readers. He successfully did this in Don’t You Know There’s a War On? using newspaper headlines to convey the feelings of fear and anxiety. Here we see one of the ways that these feeling could be dealt with that would be appealing to a young kid like Frankie – escapism.

I didn’t expect to like this story, but in the end I enjoyed it every bit a much as I did Don’t You Know There’s a War On? Avi is a very creative, prolific, imaginative writer. He has written a number of historical novels and Who Was that Masked Man, Anyway? is one that I highly recommend. I only wonder how many of his younger readers know what the title means, or for that matter, know who the Lone Ranger is nowadays.

Who Was that Masked Man, Anyway? received the following well deserved honors
1992 Booklist Editor’s Choice
1992 Best Book School Library Journal
1992 NYPL One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing
1992 Kirkus Reviews, Pointed Review
1992 Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books, Starred Review
1992 School Library Journal, Starred Review
1993 ALA Notable Book
1993 American Bookseller Pick of the List
1993 Booklist Starred Review

This book is recommended for readers ages 9-12
This book was borrowed from the Hunter College Library

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read since it is nearly all dialog; 6th grade boy obsessed with radio hero dramas, set during World War II. Really obsessed and gets into trouble, pulling his reluctant best friend in. Deals a bit with a returning wounded soldier (his big brother) and trying to fix everything in a super-hero way. Realistic fiction.

[Leah Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciated the theme of the story and the growth the MC made, but the constant "radio show" dialogue and the transcriptions (presumably not real) of shows was repetitive and hard to wade through. It slowed the story down without adding anything to it. I can't imagine a young reader slogging through all of that. I like vintage radio shows, but I had to skim to get through this book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was a kid (3rd grade I think) but it did teach me the phrase "what the hell?" which I then proceeded to use at school and get in trouble. Listen to the audio book if possible.

[Merenwen Inglorion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been having an issue with updating my reads on mobile, so I'm a bit behind...

3 stars; quick, enjoyable listen but not much substance. Loved it when I was little. Different in that there is no description beyond what is said between the characters. Believable behavior from the boys.

[Bardfilm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utterly, maddeningly tedious. Told completely in dialogue—exclusively in dialogue—and therefore extremely difficult to follow. Not that there’s much to follow. It came highly recommended, and I’ll be having a serious talk with the recommender.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a big fan of radio this book was really important to me. The style - basically a radio play - was captivating and the story exciting. I loved the characters and I loved this book.

[Sam Swicegood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I continue, with every re-read of this book, to be amazed at how descriptive a book can be with only dialogue.

[Judith Chelekis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weirdly satisfying. For those students who cannot keep their heads in the game - because they are having so much fun in their world!!

[Florence Witt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well done audio version.

[Emily Rinearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this as a kid, and I was happy to discover that I still love it. Super quick, fun read

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great family story/ historical fiction featuring radio drama and a boy who lives for these stories.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Watterson and his best friend Mario share homework, radio programs and a major scheme to unite Frankie's brother Tom and his teacher Miss Gomez in marriage. Charming historical fiction!

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.0 of 5

I really appreciate it when people take chances, to try something new or different, and I really appreciate author Avi (and his publishers) for going out on a limb and producing a book that will challenge its targeted reading audience.  This book, "Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway?" is written completely as dialog only.  No "he said" "she said".  No narrative description of the characters or the locations.  And Avi doesn't do this just be different.  He does this because it is completely in line with the major object of his book.

Set in 1945, Frankie Wattleson is an extreme fan of radio shows.  Whether at school, or hanging out with his best friend, he turns everything in to a radio show, even telling his friend how to respond, and giving himself a more radio-show type of name ("Chet Barker").  Frankie's uncle has returned from the war, wounded and withdrawn.  Frankie's teacher gets word that her fiancée was killed in action.  Frankie decides he needs to get Miss Gomez (his teacher) and Tom (his uncle) together.  Meanwhile, Frankie's parents have rented out a room in the house to bring in extra income.  Frankie is sure that the boarder is actually an evil scientist and continually sneaks in to look for proof.  Frankie's grades suffer because of his inability to focus on schoolwork when he instead is always thinking about radio shows.

This idea for a story is really fun and it's a great way to introduce an impressionable audience to the wonderful world of radio shows (which can be much more dynamic than the biggest blockbuster movie).  The story is nicely developed, though the WWII themes seem to 'date' this book (even though it wasn't written then ... perhaps this speaks well to Avi's ability to capture the feeling of an era extremely well.

And so it is perfectly in line with the story and the era and the characters that Avi has written this book entirely in dialog as if it were a radio play.  But it's also extremely challenging.  It makes the reader work, rather unnecessarily.  Do we need to have to pause or stop our reading to identify who is speaking or where we are?  Most of the time, Avi makes this abundantly clear through the source of the dialog and I was quite impressed with his ability to do so.  But those few times when it wasn't clear, it simply became frustrating.

A few times I thought it might be fun to record this book as a radio play -- he even calls his chapters "episodes" -- but while the book is written entirely in dialog, that does NOT mean it is written as a radio script.  A radio script would identify the name of the speaker and include the one thing that is really crucial to radio and missing from a novelized version of radio ... sound effects.  The wonderful world of radio is filled with sound that helps create atmosphere and set the scene.  A book of nothing but dialog misses this.  I missed this.

As a tremendous fan of radio shows, I really appreciated this book.  As a reader of YA books, I really appreciated the daring.  But as a reader looking for a book to read, I found the task of reading nothing but dialog challenging when it didn't need to be so.

Looking for a good book?  Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway? is a delightful novel of old-time radio shows, written entirely in dialog that may challenge the reader unnecessarily.

[Samuel Valentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept of the book - that it was based on old radio programs, and the entire thing was in dialogue. There was no narration whatsoever, other than what the characters were speaking.

In practice, this only worked somewhat well. When there were long stretches of short sentences, such as "Really?" "Yes!" "Are you sure?" for example, that would go on for whole pages, I'd have to go back to see who said what. On the whole, though, this was minimized by having people use others' names in conversations, far more than they would naturally. As for describing action, this was worked out in a clever way Frankie, the main character, saw himself as living in a radio program, so he was prone to narrating his every move. Again, this worked well for a book entirely in dialogue. However, Frankie was so into radio programs that it seemed to border on mania. The idea of the plucky, imaginative character eventually got annoying, because instead of inspiring everyone with his imagination he tended to bother and disrupt everyone. Even the things he got right seemed more incidental than actually insightful.

But I did like the concept, and the actual transcripts from radio programs were fun to read. In fact, the author made one up that sounded so real, and entertaining, that I actually looked it up only to find out it never existed. A pity, because it sounded great! If the author wrote about Thorgun, Ice Age superhero, I'd read that!

[Candy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who Was That Masked Man Anyway?
Avi
Historical fiction

Review: This story is about a sixth grade boy named Franklin. Franklin is growing up during World War 2 and he fancies himself a hero. Why does he believe he is a super hero? It’s because all Frankie wants to do is listen to all of his radio programs such as the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet, because back then people did not have TV. Everything was on the radio. Taking after the heroes he hears about on the radio, Frankie tries to prove that the guy renting his brothers room is a mad scientist and also tries getting his brother better after being wounded in the war.
I personally did not enjoy this book all that much. I thought that Frankie was very mischievous and disrespectful. He is told repeatedly to stay out of Mr. Swerdlow’s room and he repeatedly disobeys. Also he makes school into a joke and messes with the lives of those around him. The worst part is that his parents don’t really do much to discipline him. They tell him no radio but he sneaks over to his friend’s Mario’s house and listens to it anyway. He is constantly kept after school for not behaving and his parents don’t seem to think that is a problem. I just feel that this story will make kids feel like it’s ok to act anyway you want because there is no consequence to their actions. I hate saying this about the book because I usually really enjoy Avi’s work, but I just do not think this is one of his best works.

I received a free ecopy of the book from Netgalley for my honest opinion.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young boy in WWII era small town America is obsessed with radio programs and radio heroes such as the Lone Ranger, Sky King, and Captain Midnight. Much to the detriment of his school work and family relations, he goes about calling himself Chet Barker and his friend Mario is his trusty sidekick. He narrates adventures for them to have, suspecting his family's boarder is an evil scientist and scheming to make him leave their house. His other plan involves getting his teacher to marry his brother who was wounded in the war.
Although a reader closer to our protagonist in both age and gender may have different feelings, I find Frankie an annoying, self-centered brat whose antics could very well have hurt himself and others. He did not deserve to have things turn out as well as they did for him.
I would have ranked this book only one star, except for the fact that it is written entirely in dialogue, as though it was a radio show itself, which I found an interesting writing style and a quite redeeming quality. It must have been incredibly difficult to convey the story without relying on descriptive paragraphs, phrases such as 'Tom said exasperatedly' or even the sound effects and recognizably different voices that make an audio drama work.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avi's unique approach to storytelling with Who Was That Masked Man Anyway?, which is told entirely through dialogue and radio shows, is a refreshing change of pace from more traditional children's books. Unfortunately, though, the dialogue-only text also makes Who Was That Masked Man Anyway? a more challenging read than other books aimed at the same age group. Without any descriptive text or even a simple, "...Mario said" or "...Frankie exclaimed," it is significantly more difficult to determine who's saying what and exactly what's happening. As a result, I'd be more likely to recommend this book to experienced readers looking for something different than to reluctant readers or kids for whom reading is difficult.

The new cover artwork is definitely exciting and appealing and likely to snag new readers to this 22-year-old book. And the plot, centering around radio show heroes and spies and kids' fertile imaginations, is still just as engaging.

Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I changed my mind on this one. My initial reaction after reading this book was "That was the most exhausting and frustrating thing I have ever read!" But now that I've had time to think about it, I actually enjoyed being annoyed by that little punk (the main character Frankie). The radio-shows that have the ovaltine and POW! cereal commercial spots set the setting very well. The constant dialogue was also an interesting and suprisingly fun experience. I know I will share this one with my nephews and think that they will enjoy reading about "Chet Barker, Mater Spy! Smartly dressed, cunning, full of potential." At first I just wanted someone to teach that kid a lesson, but now he has turned into my own personal hero!

[Katelynn Moss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that I started to read thinking it was about something else. This book was a good book but not a favorite. I did like how the book was written in dialog form; I feel it fit the story every well. It teaches some valuable lesson like family, and school. I wouldn't recommend this book as a need to read. I think it is something that a young male would enjoy more than others. Over all I do give credit to Avi, she presented the story well with facts twisted into a story kids may find entertaining.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like much of Avi's work, "Who was..." is a good bit of historical fiction set during WWII, mixed up with radio drama, and set in NYC. I skipped over most of the radio drama chapters, but I know the genre so I didn't need to read them. Great for a boy/girl interested in radio drama, WWII, and heroes.

[Whitney · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be a fun book for boys ages 9-12. This story is about a boy who you think might only be thinking of himself. You'll have to read this book to find out the twists and turns he creates to be the hero in the end. This book is cleverly written with stories and the imagination from the main character.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun tale about a boy obsessed with radio and the heroes it portrays. He lives his life through them and because of this, he is in constant trouble as school and home. He devises a great plan, which seems to blow up in his face. It was like a trip to the past to read about the Lone Ranger and some of these old favorites!

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

World War II is just background noise for Frankie Wattleson. His life revolves around action-packed radio dramas like "Buck Rodgers" and "The Lone Ranger." Suspense, heroism, thrills -- what more could an American boy want?

Frankie's mom can't stand her son's hobby, though, and neither can his teacher, MissGomez. It all spells doomsday for Frankie -- unl

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to give this book 3 stars because my kids LOVED it. They were sad when it was over. It is entertaining, but the language wasn't the cleanest and the "hero" of the story is very disobedient. His parents are rather rude as well. It's great for discussion though.