Nightmare at the Book Fair by Dan Gutman

From the Publisher

Trip had no idea how DANGEROUS the library could be...

Trip Dinkleman hates to read. Hates, hates, hates it. All he wants to do is play lacrosse. So when the president of the PTA asks Trip to help her out on his way to tryouts, he is not happy. He is even more not happy when a stack of books tumbles onto his head and knocks him out cold.

And he is even more not happy when he wakes up and has absolutely no idea where he is. Now all he wants to do is get home. But after encountering a haunted house, aliens, talking animals, and much, much more, he realizes getting home might be just a little bit harder to do than he thought.

Publishers Weekly

This smartly conceived, action-packed and at times downright silly tale offers further proof of Gutman's (The Million Dollar Shot) skill at entertaining tween boys. Trip Dinkleman, an unabashed book-hater, gets roped into helping set up some book fair displays on his way to lacrosse tryouts. When a stack of books conks him on the head, he is catapulted through a number of popular genres, starring as the main character in each sample. First he meets Professor Psycho, who wants to open a chain of human parts stores; he then moves from horror to sports fiction as he finds himself a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, playing in the Super Bowl. In one especially nutty adventure, Trip winds up in a field with a cornball superhero named Captain Obvious (he gleefully accosts his foes by shouting, "You have two eyes!" and "You are a bad man!") who gives Trip the name The Alliterator and insists that he speak alliteratively. Each new chapter introduces similarly outré characters who help define (and send up) each genre; readers can happily consume this book section by section. Ages 8-12. (July)

Children's Literature

Trip Dinkleman, the fifth-grade protagonist of this hilarious book, is a young man who "hates" to read. But when he is knocked unconscious while helping to set up books for the book fair, his dreams take him through different genres. He spends time in a horror novel, becomes a football hero in sports fiction, a superhero in humor, a suspect in mystery, an astronaut in historical fiction, and a boy on a quest in fantasy. Each new genre picks up where the last one left off—so when Trip says "I wasn't sure if I was dead or alive" at the end of his adventure story, the next chapter's science fiction story begins with that same line. Children will be amused to see some characters reappear in the various genres, assuming different roles in each of the stories. When this happens, Trip has to adjust his mindset to the new role the character is playing. For example, in the horror story, the lovely blond character Carrie saves him from the evil Professor Psycho. In the sports fiction story, Carrie becomes Mrs. Dinkleman. She reappears as "Luv Interest Olson," a girl on a quest, in the fantasy genre. References to pop culture abound. Entertaining, quirky and fast-paced are good terms for describing this book, which will have young readers laughing out loud. Reviewer: Jeanne K. Pettenati, J.D.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6

Fifth-grader Trip Dinkleman gets roped into helping set up the school's book fair, a loathsome task for a boy who hates to read. While attempting to move a particularly heavy crate, he loses control and a number of volumes come crashing down on his head, knocking him out cold. Trip then finds himself in various implausible scenarios-from playing in the Super Bowl to landing on the moon. He wonders if he will ever return to reality or be stuck as a book character forever. Each chapter represents a new genre. The result is a mixed bag of humorous scenarios and underdeveloped story lines. Gutman succeeds when he delves into historical fiction and humor, but falters when attempting to mimic the styles of science fiction, horror, and "girl fiction." The novel is not helped along by an undeveloped main character whose odd actions make him hard to root for, and the transitions between the chapters confuse readers. The ending comes suddenly, and they are left wondering how the events even came to pass. This one is only for die-hard Gutman fans.-Beth Cuddy, Seward Elementary School, Auburn, NY

Kirkus Reviews

A determined nonreader suffers toxic exposure to genre fiction when a bookcase falls on his head. Reluctantly agreeing to help set up a display in his school's media center, Trip Dinkleman blacks out beneath a shower of volumes-and wakes up (in a new chapter titled "Horror") outside an eerie haunted house. About to have his face cut off at the command of leering Professor Psycho, Trip suddenly finds himself in "Sports Fiction," carrying the ball in the Super Bowl. So it goes, each new chapter starting with the previous one's last line, through Adventure, Humor, Mystery and the rest of the roster. After a riotously over-the-top Fantasy quest ("I am Hockaloogie, . . . a wise and mystical sage who occasionally speaks in old English and refuses to give away plot details for his own mysterious reasons") and a horrifying stint as a female in Fiction for Girls, Trip comes to and discovers that his negative attitude toward reading has been thoroughly spoiled. Gutman has way too much fun here, and reading-assignment-weary young readers will, too. (Fantasy and everything else. 10-12)

Product Details

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The Book Fair

"Hey Dinkleman!"

I turned around. Lionel Jordan slammed his locker shut and slung his backpack over his shoulder. The three o'clock bell had just rung and the hallway was filling up with kids. Lionel and I have been best friends since I don't know when.

"You tryin' out for lacrosse, Dink?" Lionel asked.

"No doubt," I told him. "I'll meet you over at the field."

In most towns, middle school starts in sixth grade. But they had some overcrowding problem in the elementary schools, so they had to put the fifth grade into the middle school in our town. That meant we got lockers, and we didn't have to sit in one room staring at the same teacher all day. It also meant we could go out for sports for the first time. I thought about trying out for football, because I'm pretty big for my age. But I'm not very good. Me and Lionel decided we'd have the best chance of making the lacrosse team because all their best players moved up to high school this year.

"I hope you make the team, Trip," my social studies teacher, Mrs. Babcock, said as she walked by my locker. "Don't forget to study for the quiz tomorrow."

"Oh, I'll know everything about the three branches of government, Mrs. Babcock," I promised.

The media center is right around the corner from my locker. There was a big sign on the wall -- this way to the book fair!

Ugh. I make it a point not to set foot in the media center if I can help it. I don't like to read. Never did. I mean, I read okay, I guess. I read when I have to. It's just kind of boring to sit there looking at words on a page. I'd rather run around.

One time the media specialist, Miss Durkin, told me that if I likesports so much, I would probably enjoy reading sports books. But why read about kids running around playing sports when I can be running around playing sports myself?

"Excuse me, is your name Trip Dinkleman?"

It was Mrs. Pontoon, president of the PTA. She was standing outside the media center. I guess she knew my name because her daughter Lauren is in a few of my classes.

"Yes?"

"We need a big strong boy to help us move some crates," Mrs. Pontoon said. "Can you help us out?"

"I'm kind of on my way to lacrosse tryouts," I told her.

"Oh, this will only take a few minutes."

Snagged! I followed her into the media center. Mrs. Pontoon talks really fast.

"The PTA wants to buy the school one of those super high-tech whiteboards, you know, the kind that hook up to a computer and you can print things out?" Mrs. Pontoon said, barely stopping to take a breath. "But they're very expensive so we had to raise the money, and my original plan was to hold a fund raiser where we'd have the students sell gift wrapping paper, but Principal Miller didn't like the idea of kids knocking on strangers' doors so he said we could have a book fair instead and we need some help because Mr. Dunn the custodian told me he had to mop the cafeteria so it will dry in time for the chorus to come in so it's very nice of you to help...."

Mrs. Pontoon is one of those ladies who never stops talking. My mom says that if you asked Mrs. Pontoon what time it is, she would tell you how to build a clock.

The book fair wasn't set up yet in the media center. They had these giant crates -- taller than me -- scattered around. There must have been ten of them. Mrs. Pontoon told me that all the books for the book fair were in the crates. She needed help opening them and sliding them into a line along the wall. I pushed against one of the crates. It was really heavy. This was going to be a big job.

If I had finished at my locker a few seconds earlier, it occurred to me, I would be at lacrosse tryouts instead of helping set up the book fair.

Miss Durkin came over with a plate full of cookies. I have a total sweet tooth, and I pounced on it.

"Since you're nice enough to help, Trip, the least I can do is offer you a treat."

I feel sorry for Miss Durkin. She's always really busy because she's also the media specialist at my old elementary school. She works there three days a week and comes to our school for two days. And she doesn't even have an assistant. She always seems stressed out.

I opened the latch on one of the big crates and pushed the two sides apart. When the crate was opened up, it was like a big set of bookshelves. It was filled with picture books for little kids. The books were all lined up and organized, ready for kids to buy them. Maybe it wouldn't take too long after all.

I struggled to push open the next crate, which was even heavier. When I finally got it open, I could see why it was so heavy. It was filled with dictionaries and encyclopedias. Ugh. Who would want to buy one of them?

The crate was too heavy to slide. I had to rock it back and forth to get it to move across the floor. That's what I was doing when, suddenly, I don't know what happened, I guess I rocked it too much or, I don't know, but some of those fat ones on the top shelf must have leaned or something, and the next thing I knew the whole shelfful of them was coming down, and I tried to get my hands up, but...

Bam! Oh, my head!

Copyright © 2008 by Dan Gutman