Nightmare at the Book Fair
Grade 4–6—Fifth-grader Trip Dinkleman gets roped into helping set up the school's book fair, a loathsome task for a boy who hates to read. While attempting to move a particularly heavy crate, he loses control and a number of volumes come crashing down on his head, knocking him out cold. Trip then finds himself in various implausible scenarios—from playing in the Super Bowl to landing on the moon. He wonders if he will ever return to reality or be stuck as a book character forever. Each chapter represents a new genre. The result is a mixed bag of humorous scenarios and underdeveloped story lines. Gutman succeeds when he delves into historical fiction and humor, but falters when attempting to mimic the styles of science fiction, horror, and "girl fiction." The novel is not helped along by an undeveloped main character whose odd actions make him hard to root for, and the transitions between the chapters confuse readers. The ending comes suddenly, and they are left wondering how the events even came to pass. This one is only for die-hard Gutman fans.—Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.