I absolutely loved A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup. With one hilarious event after another, this fast-paced story will be a hit with most kids. The book opens after the Cheeseman family is alerted of danger (yet again) by their psychic dog. The kids and their inventor/scientist dad quickly pack up their station wagon and leave for another home, just seconds ahead of their enemies. The family is on the run, because the parents created a time machine that many governments, evil people and other spies want to have.

When not running, the father spends his time trying to crack his deceased wifes code to turn on the machine, so that he can go back in time to save her. During their short time at each location, the kids try to make friends and have normal lives, but they know their lives will never be normal. Soon enough, they always have to run away.

I thought that the story was simply a funny, pleasurable read. It had mystery and intriguing characters.

All of the different pieces are tied together nicely, yet the ending was vague enough to allow for the story to continue either in a sequel or in a reader’s imagination. I loved the names of the characters too, and each character had appropriate dialogue and background associated with that name.

All in all, I think that most children would enjoy this tale and that, although the bad guys ended kinda roughly, the book was tame enough for most audiences. It would probably be a good book to read aloud as well.

Kate

A Whole Nother Story by Dr. Cuthbert Soup
(c) 2010, Bloomsberg
Publisher Reading Level: Young Adult
ISBN: 978-1-59990-435-1
264 Pages