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Voss (2008)

by David Ives(Favorite Author)

3.45 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

039924722X (ISBN13: 9780399247224)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Putnam Juvenile

review 1: Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.comI predict that Voss will be the next cult-hero in tween and YA fiction. At least I think he's going to be popular with the readers in my middle school.Vospop (Voss) Vsklzwczdztwczky, his father, and his crazy uncle come to America from their native Slobovia. They are illegal immigrants who smuggle themselves into a shipping container filled with $100,000 worth of counterfeit Cheese Puffs. Using a series of letters sent back home to his friend Meero, Voss shares the trials and tribulations of being new to America.Voss's first letter begins as follows: "You won't believe this my friend. We made it out of Slobovia! We are bound for America! We have smoggled ourselves aboard a great big sheep, the cargo freighter ... moreSSS Windmill. And Meero, we are headed for dipp, dipp trobble."The travelers arrive safely in America and settle in the illegal Slobovian section of the city. That's when Voss's adventures begin. He is surprised to be greeted by Leena, the girl from Slobovia fated to be his wife. Even though she is fixated on this future union, Voss has serious doubts about having this overenthusiastic, over-sized girl as his wife.Voss realizes he must find a job, but things start off in the wrong direction when his simple attempt to travel by subway earns him only some unpleasant taunting and a foot-long submarine sandwich. Who knew an eating place could be confused with mass transportation?Amazingly, Voss is able to keep track of his crazy uncle, his gloomy father, and avoid the angry owner of the counterfeit Cheese Puffs (Chiss Poffs), long enough to meet a beautiful and extremely rich American girl whose father offers him the astonishing salary of $100,000 to act as her escort. Maybe America really is the land of opportunity, but how long can it last?David Ives has created an incredible character and a story to match. Voss is an adventurer, a patriot, a bit of a detective, and a brave young man who is bound to entertain readers from the first page until the last. Voss's story is heart-warming and humor-filled. I certainly hope this will not be his last adventure.
review 2: I started this book and found it irritating. The conventions used by the author to express the character's broken English were demeaning and insulting, both to the character and to me! "Aboard sheep," he writes, as he is bound for America on a cargo freighter. This is not the kind of mistake that would be made. I guess it is supposed to be comic and appeal to some aspect of having a sense of humor that I don't have.But I picked the book up again when I got sick and had nothing else to read. It's a quirky little farce with a story that wouldn't actually happen, outrageous characters and bizarre events. It's not what I would want to read all the time, but I did like it. less

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