Cold Cereal (Cold Cereal Saga, 1)

This book was amazingly hilarious.I picked it up because it was cheap and I keep looking for things that would appeal to my daughter, and I trusted Adam Rex because we all love the Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich books so much (they're really excellent).Cold Cereal is a romp in the vein of The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, or The Westing Game. A trio of kids and some supporting quasi-adults work together to take down a sinister company with shadowy motivations. I am sort of enjoying the shift from sinister governments to sinister corporations.Each of the characters had strengths and weaknesses -- I enjoyed that they were related to the character design as a whole -- the super-smart kid was also a worrier and had agoraphobia. The less-smart kid was brave and observant. One kid's ability to see magical beings was linked to migraines.This may seem like a weird connection, but Cold Cereal is like the bubbly mid-grade version of Elizabeth Bear's Blood and Iron. The very rough outline of the plot, the enormous breadth of mythical creatures, the cleverness in wordplay, the trickster nature of the fae. Just me? Well, I have to imagine the overlap of people who have read both is smallish.Sample bon mots:"Or he could just sit down next to the girl nobody liked and take his cooties like a man. He sat down next to the girl."This one made my fourth grader laugh and laugh:It so happened that they were serving pizza, or more accurately a kind of impersonation of it, as though the whole concept of pizza had been rather poorly explained to the cafeteria workers by people who'd only read about it in books and didn't really like children much."And the one that made me howl with nerdy laughter, from the Pooka named Harvey:"We're the mere anarchy loothed upon the world," he told Mick. "You've forgotten what I am, anyway. In four thouthand yearth I haven't never done no one a good deed he didn't regret."Read if: You are a smart 10 year old. You have fond memories of reading that style of book. You are looking for something to read to a kid over about 7. You are tired of Meaningful Literature.Skip if: You have no tolerance for pesky kids. You will not find a cast of mythical creatures funny.Also read: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler The Westing Game Blood and Iron: A Novel of the Promethean Age Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich

For kids .. but quite humorous for adults..easy one day read...my ten yr old really lliked it, recommended I read iyy

I read this out loud to my 9-year-old and enjoyed it as much as he did. Funny, unexpected and exciting. It's really nice to find a kids' book that doesn't feel like something you have read before, and evil magical cereal company did the trick.

This book is great for ages 14-120! It's humorous, fast paced, and fuels the imagination. Multiple illustrations add to the humor and excitement, keeping you not only engaged but laughing out loud. I look forward to more books by this author!

I love the author and this book is so great I can't wait to read the next ones in the trilogy. I have read other books by the same author and just love his style..

never purchased

Anything Adam Rex is okay with me. Guy is a genius.

This is a good start to what looks like a very good series. This was another birthday gift for a grandson who is not much of a reader but he is making progress on this one.