Squint & Rocket

Description

This is a supposed-to-be-funny story about two men, Rashomon Rocket and Ishmael Squint, who go on an adventure to find the missing monkey head of Ubuktubuktumarooktu. Yes, the author thinks repeating things is funny–there are several paragraphs on “great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grand-daughter,” too. Personally, I didn’t get the joke.

My biggest problem is that I don’t know who this book is written for. It’s not appropriate for younger kids because it uses words like “imbecile,” “moron,” and “simpleton.” In fact, the two main characters who are supposed to be partners are almost always insulting one another, which I didn’t like, but it’s also only 10 short chapters, and the copy I got used really large type, so maybe it’s for older beginning readers?

There are a lot of stereotypes (big oafish American stuffing his face and in love with fast motorcycles, uptight Englishman with a cloak and cane, evil German woman, etc), so they seemed like cartoon characters that might fit better in a comic book than in a chapter book. The dialogue is very dated, using expressions like “whamo,” “goons,” “high-falutin,’” and “dilly,” but it might appeal to kids interested in old detective movies.

Overall, the book reminded me of the Indiana Jones movies, and there were times when the main characters were trapped that I was interested in what was going to happen, but I was put off by the style of writing and dialogue.