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The Amazing Adventures Of John Smith, Jr. AKA Houdini (2012)

by Peter Johnson(Favorite Author)

3.53 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0061988901 (ISBN13: 9780061988905)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

HarperCollins

review 1: John Smith is a boring name unless you're related to the John Smith of Pocahontas fame, which this one isn't. Fortunately a fascination with magician Harry Houdini has yielded a semi-cool nickname for this thirteen-year-old potential author. That is until Angel, who is badly named since he's the school bully, turns it into "Houdini Weenie" and sets out to make Houdini and his buddies as miserable as possible without actually committing murder and going to prison. Houdini Smith and his friends Lucky, who isn't, and Jorge, who probably needs medication to keep him from going truly crazy, have many interesting and bizarre adventures that Houdini decides to turn into a book so he can get rich, or at least help his parents pay the bills. As he writes, he determines not use curs... moree words, but gives you a list of alternatives he WILL use, and swears off talking about sex so kids can read his novel. This done, Houdini gives the reader a guided tour through his life, including the way his family copes with his brother's stint as a Marine in Iraq, dealing with Angel-the-Bully and his crew, setting up a leaf-raking adventure that nearly cripples Lucky, and making sort-of-friends with a half-crazed Vietnam vet named Old Man Jackson. This was an okay read that may appeal to reluctant readers and middle school boys. The relationships are fairly shallow, there are plenty of almost-swear-words, and the boys make a concentrated effort to put the bully in his place through trickery. Not a first pick for me, but I've never been a middle school boy (thank goodness!).
review 2: This book is a unique piece of work, but in some ways, is similar to our anchor book, "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton. They both involve young adults with problems, which of course are different but have some similarities. They both have trouble with some type of physical endangerment. Houdini, has a bully problem, while Ponyboy and the gang have a rival gang with a mindset to give ruthless and relentless beatings to them. The dates of the books are far from close, "The Outsiders" going all the way back to the 1960's, while "The Amazing Adventures of John Smith, J.R. AKA Houdini" is modern day. These books are really interesting, but at the same time tells how life is in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the greasers, and for teenagers with a bully problem. less

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