Herbert's Wormhole

by Peter Nelson, Rohitash Rao (Illustrator)

Overview

Herbert Slewg and his hapless, video game–addicted neighbor Alex Filby have stumbled upon what Einstein could only theorize about: a wormhole through the space/time continuum. They travel 100 years into the future of their no-longer-boring town and are mistaken for alien slayers . . . in a world run by a benevolent alien race with cheerful Australian accents and uncomfortably fake facial hair. Herbert, Alex, and their mutual crush, Sammi Clementine, century-hop across time in order to outwit a disgruntled “G’Dalien. By foiling his evil plot, they save the planet and become 22nd-century hometown heroes in this smart-alecky (but friendly), inventive, wry, and very visual creation.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061911149
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/05/2009
Series:	Herbert's Wormhole , #1
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Lexile:	780L (what's this?)
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Peter Nelson is a screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Diane, and their two sons, Charlie and Christopher. Herbert's Wormhole was Peter's First children's book. He wrote it without ever having met an actual alien or traveling through time, which made it a bit more challenging, but just as fun.

Rohitash Rao was born in an exotic, faraway land called Hyderabad, India. He then grew up in another exotic, faraway land called Rancho Cucamonga, California. He now lives in a magical city on an island called Manhattan, where he works as an animator and director. Herbert's Wormhole was Rao's First children's book, much of which he illustrated while sitting on a broken stool in his apartment.

Editorial Reviews

More text-heavy than the subtitle suggests, this loopy debut opens as Alex's well-meaning parents buy the 10-year-old a jungle gym. They also arrange a playdate ("Playdate? Alex hadn't had a playdate since he was seven") with neighbor Herbert, a compulsive inventor, who tinkers with the body suits that came with his AlienSlayer:3-D! video game. When he and Alex wear the suits on the jungle gym, the tubular slide becomes a wormhole that catapults them 100 years into the future. Their hometown is now inhabited by G'Daliens, aliens that speak with Australian accents and resemble giant squid wearing toupees and fake mustaches, a sight the boys find "fall-down, pee-in-your-pants hilarious." The cartoony line art and wacky futuristic particulars should appeal most to readers whose sense of humor tends toward the absurd. Ages 8-12.
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Publishers Weekly

Gr 3–7—Soon-to-be sixth-grader Alex loves video games and longs to own AlienSlayer: 3-D!, which comes with a holographic-projection unit and two motion-sensor suits. But Alex's parents have other ideas: there's a new jungle gym in the yard and his mother has planned a "playdate" with Herbert, an inventor/genius. To his horror, Alex discovers that his nerdy neighbor has "modified" two AlienSlayer: 3-D! suits. However, instead of allowing their wearers to pass through objects as planned, the suits somehow transform Alex's slide into a wormhole that transports the boys 100 years into the future. There, G'Daliens—squidlike aliens who wear toupees—have taken over Earth, with mostly positive results. But one extraterrestrial is bent on proving just how stupid and unnecessary humans are and tries to ruin the fragile peace between the two species. Now, through a series of gaffs and mishaps, it's up to Alex and Herbert to save the world. With its amusing cartoon drawings and zany adventures, this is sure to be a hit with reluctant readers. The numerous illustrations are integral to the story, adding detail and keeping the action moving quickly. The plot is slight, but readers won't care. Give this to kids who have moved beyond "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) but want something just as silly and funny.—Necia Blundy, Marlborough Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

When ten-year-old Alex Filby zaps the last alien in his Alien Slayer 2 game, his parents celebrate-not because he won, but because Alex promised to play outside for the rest of the summer if he finished the game. They've even made a play date for him with the genius inventor boy next door, Herbert Slewg. Herbert's newest invention, Negative Energy Densifiers, are supposed to make matter permeable, but instead they send Alex and Herbert 100 years into the future, where humans and G'daliens (aliens with Australian accents, six tentacles and bad hair pieces) are the best of friends . . . mostly. GOR-DON was spurned by a human female and wants to take over the world. Alex, Herbert, friend Sammi and a surprising old man team up to ruin GOR-DON's plans. Nelson's first reads like a missing volume in the Time Warp Trio series without as much deadpan sarcasm. Rao's line drawings are more like frequent illustrations than cartoons and at times do not agree with the text. While it's not as funny as it thinks it is, it could function as a next step after Scieszka's series. (Science fiction. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews