Welcome to Wonderland #2: Beach Party Surf Monkey Paperback – April 3, 2018

Both of my daughters (ages 8 and 10) loved this book!!! My youngest thinks it should be made into a movie so she reread it to work on the screen play!

I love this book all kids should read both books.I give this rating because it's extremely exciting.Remember to read the other Welcome to Wonderland 1

Good book for young readers

My daughter loves the first. This is her next read

Daughter loved

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I like middle grade heroes who always have a plan or a scheme or a wacky angle, but if they aren't done right they can become creepy, tiresome or obnoxious. Grabenstein knows exactly how to do such characters, and so this second installment in the Wonderland series is as outlandish and upbeat as the first.Our two heroes are P.T., (named after P.T. Barnum), whose the fast talking idea man, and Gracie, who's the brains, planner, and financial officer for P.T.'s schemes. They are a well oiled machine, and it is a pleasure to see two great friends sharing equal time in a book like this. The kids are smart and resourceful, and the balance between practical Gracie and outside-the-box P.T. keeps the book racing along on an even keel.It seems we're always trying to save the old family motel, and this time around the plan turns on making it the location for a surfer dude rom-com movie. So, you get P.T.'s schemes, a few villains trying to bring down the motel, touchy actors, a surfing monkey, and many, many complications.But as before, we also get a lot of quick thinking, fast shuffling, improv, and antic action. That said, nothing about these books is dumb or patronizing. There are a lot of funny and perceptive throwaway lines, a few groaners, and a good deal of snappy dialogue. There are some pointed bits about fame, celebrity, crooked businessmen, and so on, which adds just a touch of occasional edge. Every character is a bit more than you might expect, and almost every scheme gets one more twist or angle than the bare minimum. So, even though this is aimed at younger readers it has a lot of style and wry humor, and it's always just a little bit more or a little bit better, or a little bit wiser, than it has to be.Florida is, or course, the best place in which to set wacky and slightly skewed screwball adventures. Adult writers like Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, and Tim Dorsey have been mining this territory for years. It's nice to see that middle graders can share in the sunny, white sand, Gulf breeze nuttiness too. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

My son loved this book!