Review: "Punk"ture through your "Crypt"o of boredom with this awesome book!  #badwordplay
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 31, 2014
So when I clicked on Crypto-Punk in my Amazon recent viewing history, it says “Believe it or not we don't have any recommendations for you related to Crypto-Punk”.  Some people might take that as something of an insult, but I think that really speaks to how unique and different and strange this book actually is.The hard thing about describing this book is that it is a mystery, and digging too much in the plot would make the reading experience less than it could be.  Basically, the Zero Avenue kids notice that something strange is happening to some of the other kids at Bixby Elementary, and they are going to set out to find out exactly what that is.  Oh, and Bixby Elementary was an asylum that was turned into a school.  But with these crazy elementary school kids, how would you tell the difference?!  (Rimshot!) (Also, mental illness is no laughing matter).What this book sort of reminded me of was the Derrick Comedy movie, Mystery Team.  Partly because of the mystery angle, but mostly just the absurdity of it.  Crypto-Punk is just bizarre, but in a good way.The only thing that I would warn you about is that this book leans towards a younger audience, and while it is in the “Children’s Book” category, I think it would be better suited in the Young Adult section.  But that’s just me.With that being said, as a guy on his mid-20’s who just recently got WAY into the Animorphs books again for some strange reason, this book is immensely enjoyable.  The writing is solid, the characters are interesting and unique, and even though it is a little too spread out in the beginning in order to introduce those characters, it meshes back together into a very compelling read.  I wouldn't let the fact that it is for a younger crowd deter you from checking this out.