Herbert's Wormhole

by Peter Nelson, Rohitash Rao (Illustrator)

Greetings. This story concerns a scientific anomaly that opens a portal, allowing us to traverse the space-time continuum and triggering an adventure that those of limited intelligence might simply describe as "awesome." Hey! This is a book about how we get sucked into this wormhole thingy and it drops us in the future where there's all this really cool futuristic stuff, but also these super-freaky aliens and we mess everything up and have to save the world. How awesome is that?

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Middle Grade, Fiction, Juvenile, Time Travel, Childrens

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Peter Nelson is a screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Diane, and their two sons, Charlie and Christopher. Peter grew up in New England, where he made up weird stories and invented strange games for the enjoyment of his two younger brothers, Sean and David. They’ve never forgiven him for it.

Herbert’s Wormhole is Peter’s first children’s book. He wrote it without ever having met an actual alien or traveling through time, which made it a bit more challenging, but just as fun.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com

Alex wants to spend his summer playing video games, but his parents have other plans. They've built a (babyish) jungle gym and set up a play date with nerdy science kid, Herbert.

Herbert has spent his summer building a Negative Energy Densifier Suit. When the suits are worn by the boys on Alex's new jungle gym, they open a wormhole to the future. Only in this future, aliens called G'daliens have taken over. They all seem friendly enough, except for GOR-DON, who wants the boys destroyed. Now it's up to Alex and Herbert to save the future.

I loved HERBERT'S WORMHOLE. It's the perfect blend of cartoons and novel that readers of all ages will be sure to enjoy. The story is fast-paced and reads like an adventure/science fiction novel, but even if you're not typically a fan of those genres, I would try picking this one up. It's so full of humor, you'll be laughing the whole time.

I would give this to any reader who is looking for something to hold them over until the next DIARY OF A WIMPY KID book is released. Soon, they'll be asking for more adventures of Herbert and Alex.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty standard cartoon-aided kid fiction. We enjoyed the story and it made us laugh throughout.

[Kenneth Marquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it had a lot of weird words and also it was cool because Alex and Herbert went into the future with Herbert suits. I recommend this book to people who like weird things about what they might think the future will be like.

[Julian P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished reading a book last week called Herbert's Wormhole by Peter Nelson. The book is about a boy named Alex that likes playing video games out of the Alien Slayer series. Once Alex finishes the game, he has to go play with a friend arranged by his parents without him knowing. Once Alex gets Herbert to come over, Herbert tries to show Alex one of his latest inventions. Alex isn't interested but then tries the one he has on out. His slide then turns into a wormhole that they both get sucked into. They arrive in the future and meet aliens and end up getting into loads of trouble. Overall this book was great because it has a lot of exciting parts in it, is science fiction, and is pretty fun to read. Overall the reason I gave this book 5 stars is because it is really good once you get to know what's going on.

[Jesus Madrigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. At first I was kind of skeptic about this book, but I'm glad that I read the book. It is about two neighborhood kids travel threw a wormhole and they end up at the future. They suddenly meet this kid named Chicago and moments later they are called alien slayers. You might think this is happy, but there are actually a friendly alien race called G'Daliens. So being called alien slayer is a bad thing. So this evil G'Dalien named Gor-Don is trying to take advantage of the moment and trying to make everyone believe that Alex and Herbert ( main chracters) are alien slayer's. Ain't spoiling but this is really good and im hoping to find the sequel of the book. Apperently a new alien race is being introduced.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Sentence Review: Darn it, I really did mean to review this one, since it's almost impossible to find good boy-friendly partially cartoony fiction containing alien invaders who wear bad toupees and fake moustaches and talk like Australians.

[Ashley Fitzpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a lot of fun to read about coexisting with aliens in the future and time travel. I think that this would be a great book to recommend to a student who likes science fiction but does not necessarily like to read, this book is very fast-paced and easy to read. There are even some images drawn in throughout the book to add more visuals to the story. There are also references to video games in this story, so a student who likes to play video games might like this book as well. I think that it is really important to recommend students books that they might like and this one could fit a couple different things. If a student like time travel, reading about aliens, reading about video games, or any type of science fiction then this would be a good book for them.

[Melissa Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, cartoon-like book that though fine for either gender might be a good find for a boy who is particularly uninterested in reading. I would say it is appropriate for a 3rd or 4th grader. It has a focus on video games which makes it appealing to boys like my son who loves gaming but really despises reading. We read this one together.
Alex just wants to spend his summer playing his favorite game, Alien Invader. His mother arranges unwanted playdates with Herbert. The boys ultimately adventure using a suit created by Herbert the nerdy science kid. They go into the future where they discover aliens known as G'daliens. Alex and Herbert are on a mission to save the future.

[Jolie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really weird, but at the same time was hilariously silly. It all starts with two boys who are completely different and use a video game to time travel to 2109. They encounter some strange alien friends called the gdaliens and "save the earth?" While learning about the future.

[Antonio D.H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I enjoyed it more as a kid, I found this one to be really weak as an adult. The illustrations are stiff and don't look very good, and the story is not very funny nor interesting. It's a nonsensical multiverse story that isn't very interesting...

[Anna Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird and funny book we listened to on audio (only 3 discs, which was about right.) Two boys go through a wormhole and wind up in their same town in the future. A future where humans and aliens co-exist in town. The aliens all have Australian accents, which is hilarious.  I enjoyed this but didn't feel super invested in it.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this book since I was a kid & never finished it. Well years later I actually read the whole thing😂

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young boy who loves video games makes a deal with his parents in exchange for the latest and greatest he'll stop after this one. When eh beats this game he is forced to play with Herbert next door. Herbert is a budding scientist and is working on creating a suit to travel back in time. The rest of the book is the adventure to the future the two end up on. I liked the third person who joins their adventure and found she added a lot top the book.

[Sarah Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Riding on the coattails of the popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, this “novel in cartoons” also offers a chapter book interspersed with illustrations, though more detailed, and speech bubbles that support the story of a slightly snarky boy who puts up with the world around him, this time in a science-fiction setting. Unfortunately, the formula doesn’t work quite as well here, though some readers will find it amusing. The summer before 6th grade, Alex avoids his boring town by obsessively playing Alien Slayer 2. He only got the video game by promising his parents he’d go outside to play after he finishes the highest level, so by mid-summer he finds himself roped into a backyard play date with the strange neighbor kid, Herbert. Alex discovers that Herbert is a genius inventor who actually owns the really cool Alien Slayer 3-D game, but has modified the accompanying silver body suits. Wearing the suits while going down a slide causes a time rift that sends the boys about 100 years into the future. Here they find humans living in harmony with G’Daliens, a friendly octopus like race with Australian accents. They enjoy amazing technologies and make new friends, but Alex’s “I HEART SLAYING ALIENS” t-shirt and violent video memories get the boys in trouble. Eventually they bring their talented female neighbor to the future with them to play anti-gravity t-ball and save the town from a bitter G’Dalien bent on destroying humans. Older elementary students and middle school students looking for a loopy laugh will enjoy and may request more since the ending feels poised for a sequel.

[Auggiesadorra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was great! I loved this book a lot because it hads lots of adventure and it was my type of book. This book is about a two boy's named alex, and also herbet.Alex's mom sent him over too herberts house for a playdate, because alex's mother had just gotten Alex a Jungle gym. Alex had not know herbert at all, all he knew was that Herbert was smart and made all these inventions. So alex goes over to Herberts house to pick him up so they could hang out at alex's place. Alex goes to herberts room and he was making these suits that were taken from the game "Alien Slayer 3D".Alex had wanted to play that game since it got out so he put on the suit and when he did him and herbert were teleported to around 10000 B.C.

I honestly really loved this book a lot because there was so much action and adventure going on. That kept me reading the story. I would really recommend this book to people who are really interested in Action and Adventure. I liked how this book had pictures explaining whats going on in the story, that was one thing that i was mainly looking at instead of the words. In all this book is great!

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The KitKatPandaBatWolf has taken off a bit with this. So I'll read a couple of chapters to her at night, and then she'll read a couple more to herself before turning out the light. Let me state for the record that I dearly love having children who want to stay up a little bit later reading to themselves at night, and that I've set their bedtime at a manageable 8:30 on weeknights, accordingly. I've been an insomniac from the word "go" and read to myself after official lights out by the hall light shining in. I also used to hide my current reading under conveniently placed stuffed animals.

Anyway, she'd be giving this two enthusiastic thumbs way up. I'm amused when reading, but not awed, in part because the art just isn't working for me at all. But there are giant octopus-like beings who sound Australian, and they're called G'Dalians. Tell me that joke alone is worth getting a copy for your kid.

***

Finished, finally. I didn't enjoy it as much as the eight-year-old, who, I'm pretty sure, would give it five stars, but still, it was fun.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously, I am not in the target readership, but this book was neither here nor there for me. It was certainly a fun concept, and I can see the benefit for--particularly--boy readers needing to move on from things like the Wimpy Kid books. But this book is not nearly as fast-paced as it needs to be for its length, especially if appealing to otherwise reluctant readers. The illustrations do very little to advance the story line, and in many cases seem unnecessary. There was no clever reason for the aliens to be Australian, and the physics of gravity were also completely off in this book. I can see 5th grade boys potentially eating this book up...but I can imagine just as many of them getting bored with it.

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Total opposites, Alex and Herbert, are forced into a play date by their mothers. Herbert is a super smart inventor that finds a way to time travel into the next century. There they find Earth run over by aliens, although seemingly friendly.

Alex and Herbert find out their true intentions with the help of an 'older-self' and defeat the menacing aliens at their own game. Not much to keep my attention, but maybe kids would like it.

I would have a hard time recommending this to any kid...I wouldn't even compare it to Diary of a Wimpy Kid which is silly, but inventive and worth the time.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I accidentally picked this book up when I was grabbing #2 & #3 of the Lemony Snicket series---I was attracted to the idea of a "novel in cartoons' and I am mostly 10 years old at heart, so this was a perfect read for me.

I thought it was super cute! I loved Herbert (the geeky boy in the pair) and Sammi (the heroine, in my eyes), but I felt like it was mostly missing character development, world building, and a plot in general. No matter! It was cute! I think any little child would love this book!

(Obviously I was not the intended audience)

[Josh Newhouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just silly fun for boys and (some) girls of all ages! Comical illustrations, a fun wacky story, silly villians... I mean aliens in toupees and fake staches that speak a kind of Australian dialect for no apparent reason... c'mon!

And look at the comments... boys love this book... especially boys whose reading is all comic books with the occasional wimpy kid! 5 stars for boys and girls who go into it with an open mind will get a chuckle or two too!

[Kristy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mehn. Do I really want to elaborate on the reasons I wasn't fond of this one?

Here's a short list:

I don't know a single 12-year-old who would put on a suit that looked like the ones the boys wear in the book.

The aliens' Australian accents serve no real purpose in the book.

The book is named after Herbert, but the two boys are either co-main characters or Alex is the star.

BLech.

[Christiane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two very different sixth-grade boys travel through a wormhole to the twenty-second century, where the earth has been colonized by horrible-looking but harmless (?) aliens. Who speak with Australian accents. Full of humorous black and white cartoons throughout, this is a fast read with a lot of appeal for video game and science-fiction fans. I loved the part where they crash into the Museum of Human History, full of dioramas of things like "1969: G'Daliens Help Earthlings Locate Their Moon".

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herbert's Wormhole would be a great read for a boy or girl between the ages of eight and eleven who is interested in video games, sci fiction,comics/graphic novels or general adventure. I rated it three stars as an adult reading it as it seemed to be lacking in character development. The plot was rather flat for me, however, I know children who would love this book as they have one of the interests I noted above.

[Rishabhb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have recently finished reading Herbert's Wormhole, by Peter Nelson. It was a very good and funny book, because the 2 main characters differences lead it to be hilarious. I really like the way it combines comics, and chapter books, to make a masterpiece. My favorite part is when they go to the pizza place, where there are flying tables, because it is so funny, the way Herbert doesn't have an appetite after they went in the flying booths.

[Kristina Knott]

Harmless, silly read, recommendable to boys 4-6th grade. Two boys, one a video-game loving average kid, the other a genius-type who invents gadgets, fall into a time warp into a futuristic version of their hometown. There are generous descriptions of this futuristic world (imagine visiting a pizza place where the waiter puts his tentacles on your forehead in order to derive information about your favorite toppings) and plenty of silly banter between the boys.

[Quinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex Filby has spent his summer playing AlienSlayer 2 and has finally slain the last alien. He promised his parents that when he finished the game he would go outside and play, staying away from video games for the rest of the summer. That dreaded moment has arrived, and as if no more games wasn't bad enough, Alex's parents have built a huge (and hugely juvenile) jungle gym for him in the backyard and arranged for Herbert Slewg, the very nerdy neighbor kid, to come over and play.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, I did not like this book at all. I felt like the author was talking down to his audience. Some of the book was enjoyable, but the entire premise is based on parents being so out-of-touch with reality that they give their 6th-grader a backyard swingset with a slide. Was this chosen simply because of the graphics that made it Wimpy-Kid like?

[Grant Marceau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I have been reading this at home and it's amazing. It's about these two kids who travel to a different dimension. And then these aliens don't like the boys so they scheme to destroy them. I'm still waiting for the sequel to drop so I can read that. If you like science fiction, you'll like this book. I give this book 5/5 stars.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highly illustrated, this is a fantasy where two boys travel into the future to find that humans and friendly G'daliens (with Australian accents) coexist peacefully - until the boys kinda mess that up. Oops.

Fun read, lots of pictures, lots of action.