Jennifer M. (Kaydence) reviewed The Mesmer Menace: Gadgets and Gears, Book One on + 380 more book reviews
Summary:
The story is narrated by Noodles, an adorable Dachshund, who is loyal to Wally Kennewickett, a twelve-year-old inventor. The two live in the family's Amazing Automated Inn, where automatons staff and run the inn, and the basement is a laboratory. The Kennewickett's are brilliant inventors and are often called away to solve problems. In this tale, President Roosevelt calls upon Wally's mom and dad to help solve the case of evil Mesmers controlling the minds of very powerful people. The only problem is that they are set for a popcorn convention to show off Wally's mom's newest invention and dad's experiment with Tesla is about to happen as well. After some compromises, the eldest Kennewickett's leave with the President and Wally takes care of the Inn. Unfortunately, the horrible Mesmers end up at the Inn and Wally, with Noodles' help of course, must save the day.
My thoughts:
I'm obviously not the targeted audience, but I really enjoyed this short novel. The best age group for this would be around 4-6th grade. I think older may find it a little too childish and younger would have difficulty with vocabulary. While words are often described if they are difficult, it does have a fair share of historical and scientific aspects that a younger child will not understand. Other than that, this is a fun slightly mysterious tale. Wally is a very likeable character with out of the box thinking and great care for his parents, the automatons, and his unlikable cousins. My favorite character is Noodles, of course. He is adorable. I love his narration and all of his little aside comments. Plus, I love the loyal dog traits that are so apparent in my puppy that show up in Noodles' character. Maybe my little Aiden will have a hero heart as well.
The story is narrated by Noodles, an adorable Dachshund, who is loyal to Wally Kennewickett, a twelve-year-old inventor. The two live in the family's Amazing Automated Inn, where automatons staff and run the inn, and the basement is a laboratory. The Kennewickett's are brilliant inventors and are often called away to solve problems. In this tale, President Roosevelt calls upon Wally's mom and dad to help solve the case of evil Mesmers controlling the minds of very powerful people. The only problem is that they are set for a popcorn convention to show off Wally's mom's newest invention and dad's experiment with Tesla is about to happen as well. After some compromises, the eldest Kennewickett's leave with the President and Wally takes care of the Inn. Unfortunately, the horrible Mesmers end up at the Inn and Wally, with Noodles' help of course, must save the day.
My thoughts:
I'm obviously not the targeted audience, but I really enjoyed this short novel. The best age group for this would be around 4-6th grade. I think older may find it a little too childish and younger would have difficulty with vocabulary. While words are often described if they are difficult, it does have a fair share of historical and scientific aspects that a younger child will not understand. Other than that, this is a fun slightly mysterious tale. Wally is a very likeable character with out of the box thinking and great care for his parents, the automatons, and his unlikable cousins. My favorite character is Noodles, of course. He is adorable. I love his narration and all of his little aside comments. Plus, I love the loyal dog traits that are so apparent in my puppy that show up in Noodles' character. Maybe my little Aiden will have a hero heart as well.
