It is the last Monday in August. School is about to start and cousins Otto and Sheed are determined to do something special on this, the last day of summer. Adventure finds them as a photo taken with a camera from a mysterious stranger puts the entire town in a time freeze. These two resourceful tweens set out to make things right with the help of some out of ordinary, not to mention extraordinary, characters they meet along the way.

This story is the weird and clever of Gravity Falls meets Phineas & Ferb. These “Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County” are known for solving the wacky and bizarre all over their strange county. Just that summer they had battled laughing locusts and banshees. In fact, the cousins have been awarded the key to the city twice. They follow the peculiar and unknown with a notebook of clues and list of kooky numbered maneuvers that range from distracting Grandma to Jumping the Creek.

The illustrations in this middle-grade book pull the reader in and keep up with the fast pace of the story. While there is a mystery to solve and plenty of physics busting, time-twisting science fiction- with a touch of fantasy- fun to go around, this is also a story about relationships and choices that people make along the way that could have lasting consequences in the real world. With bikes, robots, and arch-rivals turned allies, this is the perfect summer read and will fit nicely into any 4-7 grade library. ( )

Grades 3 through 7
740L

In Logan County, VA, things are not always as they seem to be nor as they appear to happen. Cousins Otto and Sheed are known around town for their skill and adventures in battling the strange by way of deduction, inventiveness and assorted maneuvers. They’ve even been recognized with keys to the city for their work. But on the last day of summer before school begins, the boys take on their greatest challenge yet, after a stranger shows up in town and time freezes.Mystery and time travel, the puzzle of putting it together. Readers are deducing the way Otto does. Humorous play on phrases of time (bedtime, crunch time, game time, second guessers) and how frozen time impacts them. Otto and Sheed’s relationship: teasing, bickering, bantering, insults, buddies, teammates, they have each other’s backs, flaws and all. Seemed to me a standard adventure story until we got into Petey’s story and how he came to be and how “Old Petey” made things right with “Young Petey.” Then we come to the heart and substance of the story so then the story works. ( )

With a whirlwind of adventure, imagination and fun, this is a tale which grabs from the first page to pack surprise after surprise the entire way through.

Otto and Sheed are not exactly happy about it being the very last day of before school starts again. They aren't sure what to do with the day, but run into Mr. Flux who gives them a camera and claims it will help them capture the moments. After two photos, a portal suddenly opens up and Mr. Flux battles with a stranger...but then, Mr. Flux is doing strange things himself. Time is frozen, and Otto and Sheed head into a grand adventure of odd characters and things, each having to do with time, and some even with a dash of philosophy. Somehow, the need to figure everything out while experiencing the most memorable last day before school ever.

I have not read any of this author's works before and am completely taken by the imagination and fun built into these pages. Adventure sweeps in with the force of a tidal wave and refuses to let go. At every turn, Otto and Sheed run into a new, fascinating situation which shoots off in the most amazing and humorous directions. It's never clear what they'll run into next, and they do run from one amazement to the other as fast as the pages flip.

There's a clever connection between all of the quirky elements, which first grows clear as the pages turn. While it seems like every moment is grabbed out of fun and fantasy, it soon becomes clear that there is a pattern of time and experience. The notes Otto and Sheed jot down sit like clues or realizations in a mystery, although this isn't really an mystery in the traditional sense. It's more fun and entertaining to follow them through the situations.

While I enjoyed the fast paced fun, it rolled a bit too quick and quirky at times, leaving some things to get blown over too fast. Still, there's a wonderful sense of working together, and the adventure does drag the reader in. Although it's slightly long, I see readers ages nine to ten loving the humor and fun.

I received an ARC copy and enjoyed this imaginative tale to the very end. ( )