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Summary
Summary
From Frank Cottrell Boyce--the beloved, award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Millions and Cosmic--comes another hilarious, heartbreaking, and completely original middle grade novel.
Rory Rooney likes to be prepared for anything. That sort of planning pays off when you're the smallest kid in your class. Rory is even prepared (mostly) for Tommy-Lee, his nemesis, who starts most days by throwing Rory out of the back of the school bus. Don't be scared, his favorite book says, be prepared. And Rory aims to be. What's more heroic than that?
But Rory isn't prepared when he suddenly and inexplicably turns green and finds himself stuck in an experimental hospital ward. The doctors are just as baffled as Rory is, and that's when he begins to wonder: What if this isn't caused by his genes, or a virus, or something he ate? What if it's something even more extraordinary? After all, more than a few superheroes' careers began when they turned green. Could this be a sign that he's meant for something greater? Rory is going to find out--and that's going to start with escaping from the hospital.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-When Rory Rooney, the smallest boy in his year and sadly the target of bullies including Grim Komissky, suddenly turns green on a class trip, he is blamed and ridiculed before a helicopter whisks him to a London hospital. Fearful he could be contagious, doctors aren't taking any chances while the "Killer Kittens" virus is ravaging England. Rory is dismayed to learn he is stuck in quarantine, being watched like he's a fish in a bowl, with the only other known sufferer of the mysterious green affliction-his arch nemesis, Grim (real name Tommy-Lee). Hoping their greenness means they are secretly superheroes, Rory and Tommy-Lee become convinced they have acquired superpowers. Rory is positive his brain now works at 200% capacity and that he can "slightly" teleport, while Tommy-Lee seems to be able to unlock coded doors while sleepwalking. Boyce has woven a quirky and madcap adventure full of resplendent British humor and colloquialisms. Rory and Grim band together, escaping from the hospital during the evenings, encountering loyal penguins, becoming entangled in an unfortunate royal hostage situation, and uncovering another green child-Koko. As the trio work to discover the cause of their mysterious color, they also learn what makes a true friend. VERDICT Humorous and fast-paced, this distinctive tale with well-developed characters will appeal to those readers who have ever searched for their own superpowers.-Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
A cat flu epidemic (dubbed "Killer Kittens" by the media) has England in hysteria after 12-year-old Rory Rooney turns a "light broccoli green." Hospitalized for fear of contagion, Rory is horrified to learn that his equally green roommate is Tommy-Lee Komissky, a kickboxing champ who has terrorized Rory at school. A quick thinker, Rory determines that the skin tone they share with the Hulk and Green Goblin suggests a clear diagnosis: they have become superheroes. (Rory is further convinced after he apparently teleports to save his sleepwalking roommate from a rooftop fall.) The sleepwalking episodes launch the duo into London after dark, where they innocently break into Buckingham Palace, free all the zoo animals (collecting some penguin pals), and befriend the prime minister. In an afterword, Boyce (Cosmic) reveals his inspiration for this kooky, charming tale as the medieval legend of the green children of Woolpit, but the humorous hijinks are decidedly Dave Barry-esque. A lengthy novel told in short chapters, it also offers up a message worth embracing: "The thing that makes you different," Rory concludes, "is the thing that makes you Astounding." Ages 8-12. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Life as Rory Rooney knows it flips upside-down the day he inexplicably turns broccoli-green. Whisked off to a hospital isolation unit, the weedy, undersized boy wonders if his dad could be right: The Incredible Hulk, Swamp Thing, the Green Hornet, the Green GoblinAll green and all superheroes. It seems to me that if you turn green, theres only one possible diagnosis. NamelySuper. But theres a wrinkle in Rorys comic-book life. Turns out hes bunking with another patient: Tommy-Lee Komissky, who just happens to be Rorys real-life bully. And Tommy-Lee has also turned green. So, will Tommy-Lee be Rorys superhero friend, or foe? Shenanigans ensue as the boys escape the hospital night after night, wreaking havoc (mostly unintentionally) around London. Boyces mash-up of comic-book tropes and coming-of-age struggles is funnysometimes painfully so. Ditto for his skewering of adults and his send-up of media-fueled paranoia (Christmas may be cancelled due to the Killer Kittens flu, a mild but highly contagious virus). Race, identity, individuality, courage, friendshipBoyces young heroes tackle these serious themes, too, offering up wise-beyond-their-years takeaways like: The thing that makes you different from everyone elsethats your superpower. tanya d. auger (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Not even Rory Rooney's mum's book Don't Be Scared, Be Prepared can ready her son for the sandwich-squashing, kickboxing bully "Grim" Komissky. Worse still, there's not a word in the handbook about what to do when a student's skin turns broccoli green on a school field trip to Wales. Rory is the puniest boy in year seven, so, sadly, he's used to bullying. But he's of Irish-Guyanan descent, with "dark normal" skin, and decidedly not accustomed to being green. When he finds himself in the isolation ward under scientific scrutiny in London's Woolpit Royal Teaching Hospital, he suspects that due to his newly minted "200 percent brain" he might suddenly be a superhero like the Green Lantern, an agreeable fantasy marred only by the fact that his archenemy Grim is also greenand locked up with him. The slow-growing friendship of the "Broccoli Boys" (who repeatedly escape at night and roam the London streets in hypoallergenic pajamas to wreak havoc or right wrongs) is both hilarious and touching. The snappy dialogue, gorilla encounter, truck theft, and take-charge girl sidekick named Koko Kwok keep it hopping. Cottrell Boyce, of Millions (2004), mocks neurotic adults, the quinoa craze, and media fearmongering in this funny, sentimental, thematic smorgasbord of a novel that serves up equal helpings of satire and compassion. (afterword) (Fiction. 9-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Rory and his archnemesis, Tommy-Lee, both find themselves in the isolation ward of the same hospital. Why are they there? It seems each of the boys has turned bright green from head to toe. The doctors are baffled. Could this condition be related to the Killer Kittens outbreak? Could it have been caused by something even worse? To escape, Tommy-Lee and Rory must reluctantly join forces. Along the way, they are aided by Koko Kwok, an opinionated girl who is also a victim of the green coloring, and a penguin named Peter. The four of them set out on a perilous journey to announce to the world what they have surmised about their condition. Of course, three green kids and a penguin have a hard time being taken seriously as messengers, and it's not long before law enforcement is hunting the streets of London for the Broccoli Gang. Boyce, whose Cosmic (2010) is something of a modern classic, and who recently wrapped up several authorized sequels of Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang series, provides readers with a fast-paced and hysterically funny adventure while also exploring the nature of fear, friendship, and family. Readers might also appreciate The Doldrums, by Nicholas Gannon (reviewed on p.XX), and Tom Angleberger's Qwikpick Papers series.--Lesesne, Teri Copyright 2015 Booklist
