Unbelievably Boring Bart

by James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski (With), Xavier Bonet (Illustrator)

Overview

Invisible creatures are attacking the school, and a 12-year-old boy is the only one who can stop them in this fun, hilarious middle grade novel.



Okay, so maybe Bartholomew Bean is only a hero in the video game app he created. But if he reveals his identity as the genius behind the game, he'll become the most popular kid in school! Or he could secretly use the game to get back at his bullies . . .


Press Button A: Reveal
Press Button B: Revenge


Which would you choose?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316411530
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	09/03/2018
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	493,529
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

James Patterson is the world’s bestselling author. The creator of the Max Einstein and Middle School series, he founded JIMMY Patterson to publish books that young readers will love. He lives in Florida with his family.

Hometown:

Palm Beach, Florida

Date of Birth:

March 22, 1947

Place of Birth:

Newburgh, New York

Education:

B.A., Manhattan College, 1969; M.A., Vanderbilt University, 1971

Website:

http://www.jamespatterson.com

Editorial Reviews

08/13/2018
This illustrated novel blends coding, video games, aliens, and bullies into one snarky stew. Bartholomew Bean, unassuming new kid at school, wears his self-given title of “most boring middle schooler in the universe” like a badge of honor. That’s because he’s concealing a thrilling secret project: a virtual reality game app. “Boring Bart” endures transgressions from three school bullies all day, and at home brushes off bonding attempts from his sports-obsessed father in favor of tweaking his game. When his app goes viral, Bart wrestles with whether to reveal his identity and use the app to get back at his tormentors. A frenzied denouement—livestreamed for all to see—sort of allows both. Patterson and Swierczynski pepper their text with tech terms and serve up breezy pacing and of-the-moment subject matter. Bart’s narration sometimes has an overly knowing tone that can prove grating, but its teamwork-themed conclusion is laudable, and the final pages nicely tee up Bart’s promised next outing. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2018
Gr 3–5—Bartholomew Bean, an excessively boring middle schooler, and his gym-teacher dad have just moved to Rancho Verdugo, CA. Bart is used to being invisible and living in his own world; his new environment is no different. Until, that is, Bart creates an augmented reality (AR) app, Hecklr, that brings an alien species, the Lerkians, to destroy all the technology in Rancho Verdugo. When the app craze takes over the country, Bart decides to change the code to exact revenge on his bully enemies right before they live stream the game on a popular gamer's channel. Despite what could have been a promising premise, the story line falls flat. Quibbles about augmented reality and virtual reality aside [the app is clearly an AR program, but is referred to as VR (virtual reality) through the entire book], Bart's motivations are confusing and his character is one-dimensional. It is unclear how Hecklr actually works, and its widespread popularity while only being actually playable while in the town of Rancho Verdugo is baffling. Even the chapter design is perplexing; chapter headings are denoted by an illustration of gems, coins, and hearts—the iconic currencies of a "pay to win" game. However, Bart mentions that his game is free to play and he's not in it for money. VERDICT Unbelievably Boring Bart holds far too true to its name. Skip it.—Taylor Worley, Springfield Public Library, OR

School Library Journal

2018-05-23
Bart hides behind a boring facade while secretly working on a video game.Though Bart claims to be boring, frequent illustrations of the inventive ways Bart sees the world mark him as entertaining from the start. Then Bart discloses that he's been tasked with defending the Earth against an invasion of the tech-eating Lerkians—only to reveal the phone app he uses to do so is really a game he's invented that takes inspiration from his difficulties with bullies. When the game goes viral, Bart finds himself spending all of his time debugging it, which comes between him and his only friend—a cyberschooled girl who lives in his apartment building but whom he talks to only via a Snapchat-esque app. With the announcement that a popular YouTube channel will be coming to town to cover Bart's game, Bart decides to use the show and his proceeds to get revenge on his three bullies—but the turnabout doesn't work out as he hopes. The bullying storylines play out with nuance—though neither the bullies nor Bart face official consequences for their actions, the interactions lead to introspection and growth. Introverted, white Bart is happy that people like his game, but he prefers a smaller friendship circle—especially his neighbor friend, who is eventually revealed to be a girl of color with disabilities.Wish fulfillment with surprising meat. (Fiction. 7-12)

Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Unbelievably Boring Bart:

"Though Bart claims to be boring, frequent illustrations of the inventive ways Bart sees the world mark him as entertaining from the start... The bullying storylines play out with nuance... Wish fulfillment with surprising meat."—Kirkus

From the Publisher