Bookweird

By Paul Glennon

Norman Jespers-Vilnius is just an average eleven-year-old kid–until he absentmindedly nibbles on the edge of a page and wakes up inside his favourite book, the Undergrowth Series. Norman finds himself smack in the middle of an epic battle of animal kingdoms, where he forms a close friendship with young Malcolm, a future king. After joining Malcolm’s fight he winds up back in his own bed, dirty and in torn pyjamas. But his adventures have only just started. It soon becomes clear that Norman has been caught by a mystifying force called “Bookweird”– Norman finds himself inside books his family is reading, mixing up plotlines. When he tries to undo an act of violence in his sister’s horse novel, he has to explain the appearance of a pony to some disgruntled policemen at a crime scene in his mother’s favourite thriller. Can Norman put all of the stories back on track and return these fictional worlds to normal? Or will Bookweird trap him in the pages forever?

Award-winning author Paul Glennon has created a breathtaking, fast-paced story for adventurers of all ages.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 24, 2009
• ISBN: 9780307371751

Reviews for Bookweird

[christineellei · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A YA book about Norman Vespers-Vilus, an average 11 year old until he absentmindedly nibbles the edge of a page of a favourite book and wakes up to find himself inside the story. One third of the way into the book I was intrigued, but the book borders on fantasy (alternate universe, talking animals, imaginary species) which is not my favourite genre, so I am unsure as to whether I will return to this book or not. Glennon is an Ottawa author, and from my little taste, I do recommend this book to fans of the genre.

[jcsoblonde · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The idea for this story had true potential. Unfortunately, the author relies on the ideas of others to make up the story. The main character spends most of his time in the stories of books, which is perfectly all right if the author is prepared to create those worlds himself, instead of taking other worlds and simply re-arranging them. In the first story, which I found the MOST obvious- the main character is placed in the world of animals, named Undergrowth. The animals consist of stoats, weasels, rats, voles, and etc. and the whole thing bears a striking horrific resemblance to the works of Brian Jacques and other authors who have ventured into this territory. Absolutely awful. A great idea, but in this case, it failed.