The Rat with the Human Face (The Qwikpick Papers Series #2)

by Tom Angleberger

Overview

Lyle Hertzog and his friends Marilla and Dave are the Qwikpick Adventure Society, three kids who seek out adventure in their seemingly quiet hometown of Crickenburg.

On the hunt for their next big adventure—something to top the Fountain of Poop, if that’s even possible—the kids overhear a construction worker telling his buddies about a rat with a human face he saw in the basement of an old research facility. The decision is unanimous: The next adventure for the Qwikpick Society is on! But when their trip to find the rat doesn’t go quite as expected, the trio gets in big trouble.

Will the second adventure for the Qwikpick Society also be their last?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419714894
Publisher:	Amulet Books
Publication date:	04/21/2015
Series:	Qwikpick Papers Series , #2
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	870L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tom Angleberger is the New York Times bestselling author of the Origami Yoda series and the Flytrap Files series, as well as many other books for kids. He lives with his family in Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

"Between Lyle’s honesty and the bittersweet realism of this funny tale, Wimpy Kid fans, as well as those who appreciate Angleberger’s Origami Yoda series, have much to appreciate here."

Booklist - Francisca Goldsmith

"This series may appeal to reluctant readers, particularly fans of Angleberger’s 'Origami Yoda' books."—Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA, School Library Journal

"Between Lyle’s honesty and the bittersweet realism of this funny tale, Wimpy Kid fans, as well as those who appreciate Angleberger’s Origami Yoda series, have much to appreciate here."—Francisca Goldsmith, Booklist

From the Publisher

02/01/2015
Gr 4–6—This is the second entry in this series about a trio of middle schoolers in small-town Virginia who embark on gross and harebrained adventures. Narrator Lyle has heard rumors of a rat with a human face living in a seasonal research station outside of town. Along with friends Dave and Marilla (on whom he has a crush), Lyle contrives to ride with a busload of retirees to attend a brunch at a nearby hotel so they can sneak into the research facility and observe the rat. There are a few pleasantly quirky surprises—a convenience store crane game with a stuffed Andrew Jackson doll, a layer of social anxiety as Lyle reflects on living in a trailer park with parents who are clerks at the Quikpick, and a running device where the characters compete for points in "rhyme-jitsu." Lyle's story is told in "typed" reports, with sporadic spacing errors, on fake crumpled paper. These are interspersed with "handwritten" marginal comments and "unofficial personal" notes. A key scene depends on the peculiar narrative device of setting the story in the year 2000, meaning, as explained in a cumbersome author's note, that nobody has cell phones and their camera requires time to recharge the flash. VERDICT This series may appeal to reluctant readers, particularly fans of Angleberger's "Origami Yoda" books.—Bob Hassett, Luther Jackson Middle School, Falls Church, VA

School Library Journal

2015-01-20
The Qwikpick Adventure Society files another official report on its members' derring-do.In their previous adventure, Lyle, Marilla and Dave visited the poop fountain just before the Crickenburg sewage plant was updated; that was one smelly escapade. Now, when they hear an electrician speak of a rat with a human face at the Bent Mountain Biological Station, they think they've found their next expedition. However, transportation is an issue, and their parents would never approve. They sign up for a rec-center trip to a hotel near Bent Mountain and make their way on foot to the station, which is closed for the season. When things go awry and all is revealed, Marilla's strictly religious parents forbid her from participation in the Qwikpick Adventure Society. Could this really be the end of the society (and Lyle's budding romance with Marilla)? Set in the year 2000 and presented as a typewritten report by Lyle, Angleberger's second tale in a trilogy is less engaging and much less amusing than his Origami Yoda series. (The trilogy's first volume also predates the folded-paper sage, having been originally published pseudonymously in 2007.) However, narrator Lyle and his friends are just as realistic as their origami-folding counterparts, and their adventure is much more true to life. Final art not seen. Slice-of-life exploits mostly for fans of the first. (Adventure. 9-12)

Kirkus Review