March 3, 2026 by Holiday House
ARC provided by Young Adult Books Central
Kaz has moved to Philadelphia with his parents and younger brother Max, and misses his friends. He does enjoy the family's new habit of getting weekend brunch at Beigel's Bagels, but is otherwise worried about making friends in his new town. When the owner of the shop challenges him to eat fluorescent green hot mustard, Kaz's father eggs him on. The mustard is hot, and Kaz washes it down with a root beer float, trying to cool himself down. That night, he finds that he can't sleep at all. The same thing happens the next night. He tells his parents, and his mother makes an appointment with Dr. Macaroni, who refers him to a sleep study specialist, Dr. Trout. Kaz's school is shut down for two weeks because of a breakout of hand, foot, and mouth disease, and since he has been bored at home, especially at night, he is devastated. He can't sleep during the study, and when he gets up, he finds another boy his age, Floyd, who is taking animals from a hospital lab, claiming he can talk to them. Floyd has a genetic condition that causes him to need fewer than two hours of sleep a night. His parents have turned him over to the sleep lab for a break, since Floyd is NOT bored; he uses his nighttime hours to have adventures and get into trouble! Kaz is glad to go along, and the two frequent all night food trucks, ride in bicycle taxis, and visit places that are open for Phil Up the Night (which sadly does not seem to be a real thing). After Floyd has a disastrous crash at the science museum, he is grounded, and Kaz, who is still not back at school, is devastated. He's been working with Mr. Beigel to find an antidote for his sleeplessness, which has roots in Poland, where others are mustard and drank root beer and were cursed to not sleep. He tries many things, and also works with the doctors at the sleep lab, who are trying to record Floyd's brain waves during the two hours that he does sleep, because he sleeps so soundly. Eventually, the boys try to win a contest to host an all night radio talk show so that they have something to do all night.
Uss, who also wrote The Colossus of Roads and The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle, has constructed a goofy friend adventure along the lines of The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death (1982) by Daniel Pinkwater, to whom the book is dedicated. There is a screaming Fennec fox and a couple a screech owls, bizarre fried food from street vendors, and plenty of running about town. Tweens will love the experiments for antidotes that involve mixing condiments with beverages; mayonnaise and orange juice does NOT sound very tasty, but is an amusing combination!
There are many things that are a bit unbelievable, from the mustard and root beer causing sleeplessness to the way the sleep lab is run. Even if a museum is open all night, I think two unaccompanied children would look very suspicious! Floyd gives just enough explanation to make these quirky things seem possible, which will delight tween readers.
Readers who like quirky realistic fantasies will enjoy Kaz's attempts to find a cure for his sleeplessness, and for his boredome. Midnight Mayhem has some similarities to Cherrywell's The Ink Witch or Brosgol's Return to Sender and might even encourage readers to rediscover Pinkwater's titles like the newer Crazy in Poughkeepsie.
Sadly, I can't get my students to check out The Colossus of Roads , which I enjoyed, so I will pass on purchasing this title, which is even quirkier. Quirky is not something I have much patience with. My students have not asked for this kind of humor, or I would try harder to like it. After all, I read all the Erin Hunter Warriors books and every horror football title I can find because I get constant requests for this kind of book. Quirky, not so much.
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