Patrick Griffin's First Birthday on Ith (Patrick Griffin and the Three Worlds Series #2)

by Ned Rust

Overview

The second book in an absurdly funny, middle-grade action-adventure series about a boy's quest to prevent a parallel world from taking over Earth.

“Part Narnia, part Home Alone. It wouldn't have shocked me to learn the book had been written by some guy named Lemony Vonnegut.” —James Patterson, New York Times-bestselling author, on Patrick Griffin's Last Breakfast on Earth

After learning Earth is about to be destroyed, 12-year-old Patrick Griffin is on a mission. Under the protection of a powerful griffin, Patrick and his friend Oma travel through abandoned cities on the planet Ith, hiding from the enemy while they work out a plan to overthrow the alternate world's sinister government.

Back on Earth, the gigantic jackalope Mr. BunBun and nine adorable numbats race to warn humans about impending doom. But time is running out. The evil Rex Abraham is back on Ith and will stop at nothing to continue his domination of the Three Worlds.

Breathtaking suspense, elements of science fiction and fantasy, and surprising twists come together in Ned Rust's Patrick Griffin's First Birthday on Ith, the second book of the page-turning Patrick Griffin and the Three Worlds trilogy.

Praise for Patrick Griffin's Last Breakfast on Earth:

“There is plenty of comedy along the way, mostly focused around puns or interplanetary misunderstandings. Under the jokey exterior, though, there’s some deep stuff about the way we allow ourselves to be controlled by technology, so the book offers more than just laughs for the perceptive reader.” —The Bulletin

“Clever—and utterly bonkers.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Imaginative.” —School Library Journal

“A terrific read, magic really, an adolescent book for adults, an adult book for adolescents, a funny, wise, enthralling romp from fist page to last . . . So much better than Harry Potter” —Peter Quinn, Author of Hour of the Cat

Titles in the Patrick Griffin and the Three Worlds trilogy:
Patrick Griffin's Last Breakfast on Earth
Patrick Griffin's First Birthday on Ith
Patrick Griffin's Deadliest Day Ever

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250158925
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	08/07/2018
Series:	Patrick Griffin and the Three Worlds Series , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.68(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ned Rust is the co-author of two books in the Daniel X series and Witch and Wizard: The Gift with James Patterson. He lives in Croton, New York, with his wife, son, and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Patrick Griffin's Last Breakfast on Earth:

“There is plenty of comedy along the way, mostly focused around puns or interplanetary misunderstandings. Under the jokey exterior, though, there’s some deep stuff about the way we allow ourselves to be controlled by technology, so the book offers more than just laughs for the perceptive reader.” —The Bulletin

“Clever—and utterly bonkers.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Imaginative.” —School Library Journal

“Part Narnia, part Home Alone. It wouldn't have shocked me to learn the book had been written by some guy named Lemony Vonnegut.” —James Patterson, New York Times-bestselling author

“A terrific read, magic really, an adolescent book for adults, an adult book for adolescents, a funny, wise, enthralling romp from fist page to last . . . So much better than Harry Potter” —Peter Quinn, Author of Hour of the Cat

From the Publisher

05/01/2017
Gr 5–7—This second installment in the series finds Patrick covertly traveling through Ith—one of the series's titular three worlds—on griffinback alongside potential romantic interest Oma. Back on Earth, the jackalope BunBun and nine hyperintelligent numbats have a goal that's similar to Patrick's: to broadcast details of Rex Abraham's plot to take over Earth using a perfect cocktail of dogmatism and sophisticated technological devices. The novel alternates among the first-person points of view of members of Patrick's family, the Griffins' curmudgeonly neighbor Mr. Coffin, supervillain Rex Abraham, and more. The switching perspectives further the plot but do little for character development and make the plot hard to follow at times. The story begins with little explanation of what has already happened, and it ends in a cliff-hanger; this is not a book that works as a stand-alone. That said, Rust succeeds in injecting comedy and whimsy into what would otherwise be a generic upper elementary dystopian. VERDICT Consider where the previous volume in the series is popular. Otherwise, an additional purchase; recommend to readers who thought A Wrinkle in Time could have been funnier.—Shira Pilarski, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Washington, DC

School Library Journal

2017-05-10
Patrick Griffin's second adventure seems to start over with every chapter. Almost every chapter features a different character or a different location. Often, the character is a jackalope or a griffin or a numbat, which is a type of marsupial that sometimes enjoys Twinkies. Once in a while, Rust throws in a musical number or a pointed speech about politics. After Patrick disappears mysteriously from their home, his sister transiently points out that "most of the kids who go permanently missing that we don't hear about aren't from Westchester….And probably aren't white." (Although the races of human characters are almost never mentioned in the text, Patrick is explicitly described as a "rich, white, suburban kid.") Every new chapter provides a clear introduction to the myriad characters, which may make the story a bit more accessible to people who haven't read the first book in the trilogy. They'll still be lost, though: the plot involves three parallel worlds, Earth, Ith, and Mindth (named after ears, eyes, and minds), and a cunning villain who's put them all in danger. Parker's precise, technical drawings of the various creatures help to clarify things, but only a little. The multiple plotlines keep the book unpredictable, but it also feels fragmented. The jokes, however, have improved since the first volume, and kids with a taste for weirdness will be eager to start again with Book 3. (Science fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews