Kid vs. Squid

4th -8th

This was the first book that I picked up in my search to find books to review. I was immediately pulled in by the great cover art, the funny title, and the appeal of the subject matter. I am normally drawn to comedy and fantasy and this book looked like it could have it all in one.

Sadly, it didn't. The title was misleading, the story got bogged down in unimportant details and strange sidetracks, and much of the second half of the book felt thrown together. Despite crazy battles and underwater chase scenes, it ended up being kinda boring.

The basic plot line is interesting. Thatcher Hill begins the book frustrated as his parents jet off for the summer and he is forced to spend his sunny days with his strange old Uncle Griswald in Los Huelos, California where he tends to a museum of strange objects that his uncle has gathered from the beach. The town of Los Huelos is mostly deserted except for a few months each summer when the boardwalk is suddenly bustling with weird carnies and the tourists they attract.

Late one night, a young girl breaks into the museum of oddities and steals a wooden box called the "What is it?" Thatcher gives chase and finds out that the "What is it?" is actually the head of an ancient sea witch named Skalla who has laid a curse on the former inhabitants of Atlantis. These Atlanteans are the magic bound carnies that show up every summer to work the boardwalk. The young girl who absconded with the head is the young princess of Atlantis who has managed a reprieve from the spell to attempt to free her people. Thatcher and his friend Trudy spend the rest of the summer working toward that goal with crazy results.

Many of the characters that are introduced in the first half of the book sound awesome but most of them are never fully fleshed out and given a part of the book. For instance, Shoal, the Atlantean princess is spunky and energetic and the chemistry between Thatcher, Trudy, and Shoal is funny and very entertaining. However, Shoal is almost immediately kidnapped after their meeting and only shows up every few chapters after that. The same is true of the Atlantean royal guard that Trudy and Thatcher run into in their quest to permanently free Los Huelos and Shoal from Skalla's curse. The characters of the royal cook and the head of royal security are both very interesting yet only get a few moments of play in the story.

Perhaps one of the oddest things about the book is the title. There is only one scene in the entire book where Thatcher has to fight a squid and he doesn't even do any of the real fighting, his uncle Griswald does. Why the book was named Kid vs. Squid only to disappoint is beyond me. I realize that title is catchy, but false advertising sucks.

If I was going to use this in a program at the library, I would probably reserve it for supplementary reading in some sort of ocean or beach themed summer reading program. Its strange, considering how I thought this book was mediocre at best, but I am interested in what else Greg van Eekhout has to offer to young people's literature. I think that the most disappointing thing about the book is how good it could have been.

Mr. van Eekhout is obviously a talented writer who had a bunch of great ideas. The story is full of promise and there are legitimately hilarious lines placed regularly throughout the book. Thatcher and Trudy and many of the other people in the book are great sketches of what could have been awesome and adventurous characters. It just feels like he could have used an extra 6 months to finish this one up, or perhaps a better editor to make sure that there weren't quite so many plot holes or half-finished ideas.