It's New! It's Improved! It's Terrible!

by Stephen Manes

Overview

What happens when a commercial steps out of your TV set and into your life?

The ads on TV said the basketball shoes were New! IMPROVED! Amazing! NEAT! Arnold Schlemp just had to have them. He had to. That was all there was to it.

But by the end of his birthday he had a lot more to handle than fancy new shoes. He had big red blisters on his feet. He had a broken TV set in the living room. He had an obnoxious kid who had come through the TV screen from the shoe commercial--with no idea how to get home. And he had to find a way to explain it all to his parents--fast!

The author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! is back with the laugh-out-loud story of a boy who gets his wish--and wishes he hadn't.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940014275613
Publisher:	Cadwallader & Stern
Publication date:	03/21/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	98
File size:	425 KB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

STEPHEN MANES is the author of more than thirty books for children and young adults. His Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! won kid-voted awards in five states, is a curriculum staple in American and French schools. The sequel, Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday!, quickly became a Publishers Weekly bestseller. His books have been adapted for stage and television productions.

Manes has had a long career making arcane worlds accessible to the uninitiated. His most recent book is the highly acclaimed Where Snowflakes Dance and Swear: Inside the Land of Ballet. He was one of the creators and co-hosts of the weekly public television series "Digital Duo." He co-wrote the bestselling and much-acclaimed biography Gates: How Microsoft’s Mogul Reinvented an Industry— and Made Himself the Richest Man in America. He wrote longrunning columns on personal technology for The New York Times, Forbes, PC World, PC Magazine, and many other publications.

Manes has a degree in cinema from the University of Southern California. His writing credits for the screen include programs for ABC Television and KCET/Los Angeles, as well as the ’seventies classic movie Mother, Jugs & Speed. A native of Pittsburgh, he lives in Seattle.

Editorial Reviews

"An advertising-crazy kid who lives inside a sneaker commercial steps out of a TV set and turns Arnold Schlemp's life upside down. . . . The plot is very original and the writing is crisp. . . . an 'A' for imagination . . . "

Zillions Magazine

"An alien that looks like a boy and spouts a running patter of TV commercials . . . threatens to drive Arnold Schlemp and his buddies bonkers. . . pithy commentary on phony materialistic hype, well-laced with humor and insight . . . "

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