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Total Mayhem #2
Tuesday – The Curse of the Blue Spots
The second book in the hilarious action comedy chapter book series from New York Times bestselling duo Ralph Lazar and Lisa Swerling!
There's a weird smell of sardines around here, and someone super-creepy has been skulking around near the pump-house. I think there might be some mischief afoot.
When Dash and his classmates start coming down with blue spots all over their faces, nobody knows what's going on. But Dash has his suspicions. Does it have something to do with the Face-Pulling Championships later in the day? Dash needs to act, and fast!
There's a weird smell of sardines around here, and someone super-creepy has been skulking around near the pump-house. I think there might be some mischief afoot.
When Dash and his classmates start coming down with blue spots all over their faces, nobody knows what's going on. But Dash has his suspicions. Does it have something to do with the Face-Pulling Championships later in the day? Dash needs to act, and fast!
208 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 2020
15 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Ralph Lazar
136 books51 followersRalph Lazar was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1967 and studied law and economics at the University of Cape Town and the London School of Economics.
After several years of working in finance, Ralph moved with his wife-to-be Lisa Swerling, to Cerf Island (population of 52) in the Seychelles, where they (very remotely) started their illustration licensing business Last Lemon. Later based in London and now northern California, they have worked with many publishers including Chronicle Books, Penguin and Andrews McMeel in the US, and Harper Collins and DK in the UK.
Ralph and Lisa's book creations include the illustrated project Happiness is..., which has been translated into over 20 languages and has over 3 million followers online, and the New York Times Bestselling Me Without You.
After several years of working in finance, Ralph moved with his wife-to-be Lisa Swerling, to Cerf Island (population of 52) in the Seychelles, where they (very remotely) started their illustration licensing business Last Lemon. Later based in London and now northern California, they have worked with many publishers including Chronicle Books, Penguin and Andrews McMeel in the US, and Harper Collins and DK in the UK.
Ralph and Lisa's book creations include the illustrated project Happiness is..., which has been translated into over 20 languages and has over 3 million followers online, and the New York Times Bestselling Me Without You.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 21, 2022
First sentence: It really annoys me when one gets into a Total Mayhem situation before breakfast. Which is exactly what happened to me this morning.
Premise/plot: Dash Candoo is having another adventurous day. And his adventures--or misadventures--once again start before breakfast. (Though most of the adventures take place at his very unusual school.) In this one, the school is preparing for its face-pulling competition...and after the class drinks from the water fountain...the whole class breaks out in itchy blue spots! Coincidence??? Or sabotage???
My thoughts: I would recommend this one to fans of the first book, Into the Cave of Thieves. Both books take silliness to an extreme. The books are heavily illustrated. Not much text per page, and what text is there is very silly and action-oriented. You definitely have to suspend all disbelief and just go with the flow. Throw away logic and 'the real world' and just embrace the crazy silliness of Dash's world.
For better or worse, I will say this: the second book is very similar to the first book. I'm going to predict that ALL the books in the series will be formulaic, repetitive, predictable. The good news is that sometimes that is exactly what kids need. Series books exist for a reason. It's not laziness on the part of authors, publishers, teachers, or librarians. Series books for young readers especially--think elementary school--are intentionally formulaic. So for the intended audience, this isn't necessarily "bad." For adults, well, the novelty of it may wear out by the series end. (Personally, I'm debating how many days of the weeks I'm willing to commit to reading so I can review them.)
Premise/plot: Dash Candoo is having another adventurous day. And his adventures--or misadventures--once again start before breakfast. (Though most of the adventures take place at his very unusual school.) In this one, the school is preparing for its face-pulling competition...and after the class drinks from the water fountain...the whole class breaks out in itchy blue spots! Coincidence??? Or sabotage???
My thoughts: I would recommend this one to fans of the first book, Into the Cave of Thieves. Both books take silliness to an extreme. The books are heavily illustrated. Not much text per page, and what text is there is very silly and action-oriented. You definitely have to suspend all disbelief and just go with the flow. Throw away logic and 'the real world' and just embrace the crazy silliness of Dash's world.
For better or worse, I will say this: the second book is very similar to the first book. I'm going to predict that ALL the books in the series will be formulaic, repetitive, predictable. The good news is that sometimes that is exactly what kids need. Series books exist for a reason. It's not laziness on the part of authors, publishers, teachers, or librarians. Series books for young readers especially--think elementary school--are intentionally formulaic. So for the intended audience, this isn't necessarily "bad." For adults, well, the novelty of it may wear out by the series end. (Personally, I'm debating how many days of the weeks I'm willing to commit to reading so I can review them.)
June 1, 2022
I thought it was good.
October 8, 2024
3.5
Another book that had my 7yo cackling. The names, the premise, the ridiculousness…he loved it. And I loved that he was so into it.
Another book that had my 7yo cackling. The names, the premise, the ridiculousness…he loved it. And I loved that he was so into it.
February 21, 2023
This is one of those kids’ books filled with ridiculous things for humour, without a huge amount of story line. It starts off strong and the opening really sets the tone for what to expect in the rest of the book.
There are a huge amount of pictures compared to text (think along the lines of WeirDo ratios), and similar to the The 13-Storey Treehouse each school subject is crazy and outlandish, as opposed to each level on the treehouse. The ‘plot’ doesn’t get a lot of page time, but it mostly makes sense and is fun to follow. There are a lot of characters (who were probably introduced in the first book but I haven’t read that) but there’s a handy guide at the back of the book.
It is full of general ridiculousness and quick, short action scenes before chopping to the next class, but that’s exactly the sort of thing young readers want.
There are a huge amount of pictures compared to text (think along the lines of WeirDo ratios), and similar to the The 13-Storey Treehouse each school subject is crazy and outlandish, as opposed to each level on the treehouse. The ‘plot’ doesn’t get a lot of page time, but it mostly makes sense and is fun to follow. There are a lot of characters (who were probably introduced in the first book but I haven’t read that) but there’s a handy guide at the back of the book.
It is full of general ridiculousness and quick, short action scenes before chopping to the next class, but that’s exactly the sort of thing young readers want.
September 13, 2021
These books are just weird. But my son (7.5) loves bizarre stories so here we are. The first book in the series was so so and my son said he didn't really care if we got the second one. But I got it anyway and I'd say the second book is more solid than the first. The world Lazar creates is so weird that it takes a minute to adjust.
The twist in the book (who it looks like is the bad guy at first might not be) was nice and kept us guessing for a bit. My son's only problem was the net. It's just a net. Why couldn't Dash just stand up. It didn't say that there was anything special about the net. Most of the other weird things are explained in detail but there wasn't any explanation given about why the "net" functioned like a cage that Dash couldn't easily get out of. It's a small thing but so many other things are explained very well in this weird world so it really bothered my kiddo.
If you gave Monday a try and wasn't impressed I'd urge you to keep on with Tuesday. It might surprise you! Four solid weirdo stars!
The twist in the book (who it looks like is the bad guy at first might not be) was nice and kept us guessing for a bit. My son's only problem was the net. It's just a net. Why couldn't Dash just stand up. It didn't say that there was anything special about the net. Most of the other weird things are explained in detail but there wasn't any explanation given about why the "net" functioned like a cage that Dash couldn't easily get out of. It's a small thing but so many other things are explained very well in this weird world so it really bothered my kiddo.
If you gave Monday a try and wasn't impressed I'd urge you to keep on with Tuesday. It might surprise you! Four solid weirdo stars!
December 4, 2024
My son learned to read with the Total Mayhem series, and with his adhd and autism sometimes sitting through a book is the hardest thing. He loves all the books, and we've almost finally made it to the final book. We bought the whole entire series and read 1 chapter per night. It's great bonding time, and I love seeing him enjoy reading so much. These are perfect for him because the language can be sometimes challenging, but the photos keeps him entertained, so he doesn't get bored reading since he is too smart for most picture books. He's 9 and extremely smart for his age, but without the photos, he gets easily bored with books. These are so entertaining and fun that even my husband and I enjoy story time too.
June 14, 2023
Review by 8yo soon to be 3rd grader
I really like this series and like Dash and Rob. This book has us figuring out the mysterious blue spots which are painful when the students are trying to do their face pulling for the face pulling championship contest. What caused the spots and how can they be fixed? Can the spots be gone before the contest?
From the mom: Again, we didn't refer to the Index or whatever it is called too much as we knew what things were or it was explained enough right after the underlined word. We were more focused on the story. Again, he struggles with reading, so we tag teamed this novel and we both enjoyed it.
I really like this series and like Dash and Rob. This book has us figuring out the mysterious blue spots which are painful when the students are trying to do their face pulling for the face pulling championship contest. What caused the spots and how can they be fixed? Can the spots be gone before the contest?
From the mom: Again, we didn't refer to the Index or whatever it is called too much as we knew what things were or it was explained enough right after the underlined word. We were more focused on the story. Again, he struggles with reading, so we tag teamed this novel and we both enjoyed it.
April 21, 2025
Just like the first—fun but challenging for early readers. This book is full of adventure and excitement, and my son was interested in the story. However, like the first one, it includes a lot of odd words and long or complicated names that make independent reading tough. He's still not quite confident enough to fully enjoy it on his own, but we’ll hang on to it and revisit it when he's a bit more ready.
February 27, 2022
It says at the beginning of this book that if an adult is caught reading it, then they owe a dollar to the one who caught them. Seeing as how I read this book alone, I was only caught by myself and hence I owe myself a dollar. I only had a twenty on me so I had to go get change of a ten, a five, four ones, and four quarters. I took the quarters as payment so I could do some laundry.
April 18, 2025
I guess the plot itself is secondary in this series, and the readers grab the book for the small funny bits (that they can tell to parents too). Or the kids want to get this book so that they can push it to parents' hands and ask for money ;)
If the reluctant reader likes this series, it can't be too bad.
If the reluctant reader likes this series, it can't be too bad.
March 23, 2022
Second book in the series.
The ridiculous antics continue for Dash and his classmates. The illustrations capture the fun and the story unfolds with more adventures.
Elementary level readers will love the bizarre humor.
The ridiculous antics continue for Dash and his classmates. The illustrations capture the fun and the story unfolds with more adventures.
Elementary level readers will love the bizarre humor.
Want to read
March 25, 2021Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
March 15, 2022
My 9 year old son loved all of these books. He is hoping there will be many more to come!
January 1, 2025
Read with my daughter. She really enjoyed it!
April 28, 2025
My kids love these books. very silly, easy to read
October 25, 2022
This is such a fun reads for kids! I highly recommend this for students and kids that struggle with finding the excitement for reading. The pages are short and the pictures are so fun, while also including some bigger words that will help student grow in their reading skills.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews