October 25, 2022 by Puffin
Copy kindly provided by school volunteer
Copy kindly provided by school volunteer
Greg thinks that while being famous would be kind of a drag, being related to someone famous might have some advantages, so he enthusiastically supports his brother Roderick's efforts to get his rock band, Diper Överlöde, to hit the big time. Even though the band has substandard songs and members like Bill, who is 35 and lives in his grandmother's basement, if they can win the Battle of the Bands, Greg thinks their career might take off the way that Metallichihuahua's did. The path to fame is a rocky one, however, littered with bent bumpers on vans, attempts to win vans in car dealership contests, and sketchy gigs. There's some interaction with members of Metallichihuahua, legal cease and desist orders from similar sounding pop culture items, and a disturbing interaction with an animatronic bear who plays the drums. While his parents are oddly absent in this volume, Greg follows along as Roderick and his band try to hit the big time.
Strengths: While this didn't have a terribly well developed plot, the anecdotes felt a bit more connected, and held together well to forward the events of the book more than other volumes of this series. The details about running a band and setting up performances was interesting. This reminded me of Tom Gates' Dogzombies performances from Liz Pichon's books. Greg was less mean (Rowley shows up only briefly), as was Roderick. The stories were fairly amusing, and the song lyrics will be humorous to young readers who enjoy the potty humor.
Weaknesses: There were a lot of Metallichihuahua references that I think might go over younger readers' heads, especially since most tweens are more interested in hip hop and not classic metal bands. Bill was an odd character, and I forget what his back story is.
Weaknesses: There were a lot of Metallichihuahua references that I think might go over younger readers' heads, especially since most tweens are more interested in hip hop and not classic metal bands. Bill was an odd character, and I forget what his back story is.
What I really think: There were 54 Animorphs books, plus some super editions, so I imagine that given the sales, there will be a Wimpy Kid book published every year until I die. Jeff Kinney is younger than I am, so that seems likely.
I've read all of these, I swear. Since the first book came out in 2007 and I started my blog in 2006, I was hoping that all of my reviews would still be around, but I must not have reviewed much before number seven.
I wonder, sometimes, whether reviews disappear. I swear I've read and reviewed a book, and then I go to look...and...nothing.
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