Go, Mutants!

A gem of a book

Earth has survived numerous invasions by aliens and attacks by ancient monsters brought back to life. Some of these aliens are in high school.

J!m Anderson is your typical sullen, brooding teenager at Manhattan High School. Well, maybe he's not so typical, because he has a large, megacephalic head, and oily, blue skin which he occasionally sheds like a snake. Along with Johnny, a motorcycle-riding radioactive ape, and Larry, a gelatinous mass playing the role of the "fat kid" (Son of the Blob), J!m really does have a hard time making his way through the world of high school. Maybe people really are out to get him; after all, his father is the one who led the alien invasion of Earth.

The Harvest Dance is coming, and J!m is supposed to ask Marie Rand if she would like to go with him. Her father is the school's biology teacher, and one of those people who likes to tinker in his garage. Mrs. Rand is a disembodied head who is constantly nagging Mr. Rand to find a body to which to attach her head. The body she was using is no longer viable, but it's kept in a freezer for posterity. Despite numerous opportunities, J!m never gets around to asking Marie to the dance, so she goes with Russ, J!m's bitter enemy.

J!m has a permanent exemption from showering after gym class, for anatomical reasons that are forcefully revealed by the local bullies, led by Russ, at the local drive-in. Later, during another Russ-led attempt to get rid of J!m, once and for all, J!m catches on fire, is severely burned, and dies. But not really, because he recovers in a couple of days, and is now a solar-powered being with skin as hard as diamonds (puberty rears its ugly head).

Larry is thrown into an animal cage during a field trip. Approximately a cupful of his mass is retrieved. Mr. Rand is able to do something about that, with help from some jumper cables and a car battery. Later comes the climactic scene, where Russ forces Marie into his atomic-powered car, with J!m in hot pursuit. Just before the car goes over a cliff, Marie is thrown from the car, and severely injured. Does Marie survive? Does J!m learn the truth about his father? Can Larry be resurrected?

This is an absolute gem of a book. As a former writer for "The Simpsons," Doyle certainly knows how to do satire. It's got everything a 1950s teen story needs: a sullen, rebellious main character, bullies, a chase scene and a drive-in. This is very highly recommended.

Go, Mutants!

This has got to be one of the most intelligently written funny books I've read since Lamb by Christopher Moore. I started this book before I went to bed one night and the first chapter made my head spin; it wasn't the vapid, sarcastic story I was expecting. It's intelligent and even I pulled up dictionary.com a few times - not going to lie!

The Setting -- is Manhattan. But not the Manhattan you or I know! Oh no. In this world, aliens really did invade, quite a few times. There really are mutants, some created from bio-hazard ooze, others science experiments gone wrong, and some we just don't know where the hell they came from! This is a technologically advanced world, but still very retro, in that Cry Baby, sarcastic kind of way. Much of the story takes place in the normal sort of haunts teens frequent; home, school, and work, each uniquely flavored with the new, modern conveniences and other-worldly needs of the inhabitants of earth.

The Characters -- are racially diverse. Humans, humans who think they're human - but secretly aren't, aliens, half-ape-men, gelatinous goo creatures, and gigantic insects. The main character, J!m, is an adolescent alien, the product of two different aliens to be exact. And he's going through high school! Only, think of the anti-mutant form of the KKK type hazing. J!m experiences many normal teen problems; awkwardness, trying to ask out a girl, bullies, failing classes - oh, and his dad is possibly the one universally acknowledged super villain!

The Plot -- starts off with lots of hints. I think that this book really should have been shelved in YA because so much of the material resonated with that type of audience. Granted some references to the Presley Brothers, Jesse and Elvis singing together, probably will not hit the desired target with YA. Somewhere in the middle I lost sight of the overall plot and became very engrossed with the person, J!m. I knew from the foreboding hints where the book was going but in favor of what happened then I didn't much care about that. I thought that the end of the book played out fairly quickly in comparison to everything else, but I found it highly enjoyable nonetheless.

It's an intelligent, funny read - and if you know you're history well enough you'll enjoy it all the more.

Incredibly inventive and funny

I bought this book because I really loved the last book by this author, I Love You Beth Cooper. While this book is very different in setting, the part that remains the same is that Larry Doyle has a way to connect with the thoughts, fears and hopes of teenagers with subtle observations and hilarious lines. Thoughtful readers will enjoy the many layers of this book. On the surface it is a funny and fun summer read, but there are deeper themes that can make you think about and question our society and our history. I appreciated the fact that the author did not "talk down" to his readers and it was thoroughly creative. Fans of horror movies from the 50's and science fiction will especially love it.

Offbeat fun and entertaining

J!m Anderson understands you cannot pick your parents, but wonders how far out can you get. His father led a failed alien invasion before allegedly being nailed on the Washington Monument. His mother was a siren cat woman, who earns a living as a sexy cocktail waitress.

Growing up as a hybrid outsider, J!m fell in love Marie Rand in high school. Her roots are not much better though she is a purebred human. Her dad is a mad scientist Dr. Howard Rand and her mother lost her head, which floats in a pan filled with fluid that EPA would condemn but her dad worships.

This is an entertaining over the top of the Empire State Building, Washington Monument and a few other stratospheric locales that presume the stars of 1950s science fiction and horror movies are real. Loaded with movie information and amusing satire, the offspring horde of monsters, aliens and evil attend high school. Although the plot is thinner than a B-movie, fans will enjoy this amusing homage to the height of the Cold War paranoia that hooked Hollywood in the Eisenhower Era.

Harriet Klausner

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