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Summary
Summary
The three Cheeseman children, their father, and their psychic dog are all on the run. From whom? Well the CIA, naturally. But also corporate agents #5, #29, and # 207, plus two international superspies -- one of whom happens to be a chimpanzee. They all want Dr. Cheeseman and his late wife's greatest invention-a machine with unspeakable powers-OK, I'll say it. It's a time machine. But it's not working right yet, so put all ideas of time travel out of your head.
Instead, please enjoy this high stakes, high action, hijinx-filled chase. And the bizarre characters our Cheeseman friends will meet as they protect not just their parents' invention, but their mother's sacred memory. It's an adventure novel like no other.
Oh yeah, and did we mention the entertaining, plot-exposition filled, unsolicited advice you'll receive along the way? So you didn't ask for it? Yeah, that's why it's unsolicited.
Unsolicited Advice #1: Read this book.
Author Notes
Dr. Cuthbert Soup was born in Vienna, Austria, at the height of the Great Sausage Famine. At twenty-three he dropped out of high school and moved to New York City, where he landed a gig playing elevator music. He was soon fired, however, as his trombone kept smacking other people in the elevator. He is currently the founder and president of the National Center for Unsolicited Advice, where he has served as an unofficial advisor to CEOs and heads of state, and has given countless inspirationallectures to unsuspecting crowds. In his spare time he enjoys cajoling, sneering, and practicing the trombone in crowded areas. Dr. Soup currently resides in a semi-secret location somewhere in the United States. This is his first book.
www.awholenotherbook.com
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Offbeat humor and wordplay by narrator Dr. Cuthbert Soup propel this very kid-friendly novel about inventor Ethan Cheeseman and his "three smart, polite, and relatively odor-free children," who are in hiding. After one of Cheeseman's inventions attracts the wrong kind of attention, he and his children (who are ages eight, 12, and 14 and get to choose new aliases with each move) spend two years "on the run, scarcely keeping one step ahead of these corporate villains, foreign intelligence operatives, and members of government agencies so secretive that no one, not even those who work for them, knows their names." Throughout, Dr. Soup intersperses humorous advice for readers: his warning signs that one has selected a "bad doctor" include "he... has a tattoo on his left wrist that, when seen in a mirror, forms the name of an evil international weapons conglomerate." The storytelling, which merges deadpan narration with an absurdist sense of humor, is the real star of this fast-paced adventure. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This volume follows an inventor, his three children, and their psychic hairless dog as they run away from bad guys trying to steal Dad's latest invention, a time machine. An unapologetically intrusive narrator (` la Lemony Snicket) relates events. Though the author's pontificating is rarely as funny or insightful, Snicket fans craving something similar might enjoy this adventure. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
This Snicket-like story is the rather unfortunate tale of three siblings, each with special and convenient talents, who are on the run from bad people pursuing them in the name of a three-letter entity, as relayed by a mysterious raconteur. Despite what you're thinking, these aren't the Baudelaires, they're the Cheesemans, and there are a couple of differences: they have only one dead parent (their father, a skillful inventor, is alive and well and accompanies his daughter and two sons in their adventures) and the object of desire is a time machine. There are, of course, plenty of additional similarities to the Series of Unfortunate Events series: the horizon-expanding wordplay, quirky characters, laugh-out-loud turns-of-phrase, and triskaidekamania (an obsessive enthusiasm for the number 13). Any story elements that feel derivative will likely only attract the book's target readers, who will eagerly embrace the entertaining narration of Dr. Cuthbert Soup, Founder of the National Center for Unsolicited Advice. The final pages bring an unsatisfying-to-the-point-of-being-evil sequel setup, but readers or listeners will enjoy the ride and will look forward to the Cheesmans' future adventures.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2009 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Ethan and Olivia Cheeseman are brilliant scientists who have created a time machine known as the Luminal Velocity Regulator (LVR). After Olivia's mysterious demise, her husband and their three children are on the run to keep a step ahead of assorted villains who want the LVR. One of Mr. Cheeseman's inventions and a piece of bubble gum help out the performers in a traveling sideshow who have their own reasons for staying close. When the family tries to settle unnoticed in a small town, the children's new friends help them out of some dangerous situations. Each character, including a psychic dog and a sock puppet, is developed with a multitude of quirky and sometimes redundant details. Dick Hill's narration of Dr. Cuthbert Soup's droll, meandering tale (Bloomsbury, 2009) is perfectly paced, from numerous asides and unsolicited advice to the excitement of the final showdown with the bad guys. Each character has a distinctive voice, and the children's voices are especially poignant with longing for a home they will not have to leave. This story with heart will find many fans.-Mary Jean Smith, Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Three children and their inventor dad on the run from government agents, international superspies AND corporate baddies are finally forced to take a stand in this picaresque debut. Thanks largely to warnings from their psychic dog and the ability to pull up stakes in a New York minute, the Cheesemans have managed to keep themselves and father Ethan's nearly complete time machine out of the clutches of squads of bumbling but relentless pursuers since the suspicious death of mother Olivia. Their luck is about to run out, however. Freely mining C.S. Lewis and Lemony Snicket for characters and plot elements, Soup also positively channels Dave Barry for type of humor, comic timing and general style. The result is less pastiche, though, than a grand escapade centered around a close family of smart, helpful, likable characters who run into all sorts of oddball wanderers on the road and show plenty of inner stuff when push comes to shove. Which it does, in a climactic melee marked by violent crashes, numerous minor wounds and a probable segue into a sequel. Great fun. (Fiction. 11-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
