Teen Tuesday and Audiobook Review: The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri

Image: Levine Querido

The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri. Unabridged e-audiobook, ~4 hours. Read by the author. Listening Library/ Books on Tape, March, 2023. Review of e-audio borrowed from the public library. Own the finished hard cover.

Teen Tuesday features one of my favorite titles of the year, The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri. I absolutely adored Mr. Nayeri's debut, Everything Sad is Untrue, which was published in 2020 and won the Printz Award.

His sophomore novel is narrated by Omar, a twelve-year-old monk in training, whom Samir and his caravan happen upon just as Omar is about to be stoned by his fellow monks. Samir talks the monk into releasing Omar to his custody in exchange for several bolts of silk. During their journey to Samarkand on the dangerous Silk Road, Omar, renamed by Samir as Monkey, comes to realize that Samir is basically a con man who has angered many people, some of whom vow to kill him.

This face-paced adventure is often laugh-out-loud funny, but also layered and gorgeously written. Mr. Nayeri is a top-notch narrator. I would listen to him read the phone book. That said, I did spend some time with the book. It is beautifully designed with terrific jacket art, and each chapter features an illustration. I've noticed that books published by LQ have heft, unlike the trend nowadays toward flimsy paper and bindings. 

Highly recommended! Happy reading! 

He's Ba-ack! Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy

Image: HarperCollins Publishers

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. 384 p. HarperCollins Publishers, May, 2018. 9780008248789. (Review of finished ppb courtesy of Harper360.)

Twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley is standing at her uncle's graveside when she notices a figure wearing a trench coat, hat and scarf standing under a tree away from the crowd. This was curious on such a hot day. It got even curiouser when, later, she escapes to the study at her uncle's huge home to avoid all the disingenuous "mourners" to find herself face-to-face with the gentleman. It seems Stephanie's uncle spoke of her often to him. And, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, he disappears abruptly. 

Days later, she has to accompany her parents to the reading of her uncle's will where she learns that she has inherited the bulk of her uncle's fortune as well as his home. The strange man was also named in the will and Stephenie learns his name—Skulduggery Pleasant. Soon after, Skulduggery rescues Stephanie from an intruder. It is then she discovers that the trench coat, hat and scarf were disguising the fact that he is a skeleton!

It seems that the horror stories Stephanie's uncle wrote were inspired by true events. He and Skulduggery often worked together to solve mysteries and now, Skulduggery was going to find her uncle's killer. Stephanie does not intend to be left on the sidelines. She is in for one heck of a ride!

The voice captivates from page one. Stephanie is just a terrific main character— smart, brave, not easily rattled and quite, quite stubborn as Skulduggery quickly learns. She's also dryly hilarious. The banter between her and Skulduggery had me laughing out loud often. The action is fast, furious and quite violent as the bad guys here are called The Faceless and their leader, Serpine are after a scepter with which he will rule the world. So stakes are high.

It was so much fun to revisit Skulduggery Pleasant! I cannot recall when or how I came upon it. The book was originally published in 2007. I probably read a review. I was neither blogging or on Goodreads then; but the book stuck with me. I am pretty sure I read it with my ears, but might not have, though I did read books 2 - 5 with my ears. I had to send to the U.K. for books 3 - 5 as I couldn't find them here. The audiobooks, narrated by Rupert Degas, are spectacular. Degas' deadpan delivery and distinct character voices compliment this intense tale. 

Skulduggery Pleasant was Landy's debut and he followed it up with eight additional sequels followed by a second series. I have a bit of catching up to do! Readers who love horror and fantasy will gobble this up and be back for more, so make sure you have the rest of the series on standby.

Bucky and Stu vs. the Mikanikal Man

Bucky and Stu vs. the Mikanikal Man by Cornelius Van Wright. unpgd. Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Young Readers Group, July, 2015. 9780399164279. (Review from finished copy courtesy of Blue Slip Media)

My, my. How did I miss adorable homage to imaginative play? Many thanks to Blue Slip Media for remedying this. 

Bucky and Stu, two adorable bffs clad in homemade superhero outfits (the yellow rubber gloves are a hilarious touch) do battle against a variety of homegrown baddies delightfully constructed of various and sundry household items, such as boxes, vacuums and mops. I actually had this flashback to the clubhouse my brother made way back in the time of dinosaurs when I was young. That rickety contraption was a fort, a war bunker, a ship, and even a space ship and provided hours of play when our mother kicked the six of us out of the house for the day to find our own entertainment.

Bucky and Stu are totally in sync, totally engaged in their story, which is collaborative and a perfect outlet for their seemingly boundless energy, until it's time for lunch. Then food is the only thing on their minds. Once recharged, Bucky shows Stu, Mikanikal Man, a super-duper robot villain that only needs a power source for them to do battle with. A rain storm drives the boys indoors and a lightning strike powers Mikanikal Man. 

The next day, the boys are puzzled when they find that Mikanikal Man is missing, then terrified when he looms over them. Have the superheroes met their match?

The water color and pencil illustrations perfectly capture the boys' frenetic energy as does the ever-changing type-face. The illustrations have a graphic novel feel and contain lots of fun little details. This is definitely one to ham up during read aloud. The group I read the book to loved it and they all wanted to look at the book again to chuckle over the pictures.

Bucky and Stu vs. the Mikanikal Man might just inspire some free play in the library and, hopefully out of doors instead of in the basement on electronic devices. 

Don't miss this gem. Here's hoping to seeing some more of this dynamic duo in action.

ETA 6/29: Thanks to Mr. Van Wright for commenting! Please visit Bucky and Stu's website for cool animations, a curriculum guide and more!

Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham

240 p. G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2008. 9780399250026. Purchased.

Twelve-year-old Sam lives in a town, way up north, near the Canadian border, in Washington state. He's a good kid who gets in trouble a lot. In fact, he probably has a better relationship with the Chief of Police, Officer Myrmidon, than his own father. He actually doesn't mind spending the night in a jail cell.

Seventeen-year-old PJ Myrmidon might disagree with Sam about how cool his father is. He has just arrived in town rather reluctantly to visit. Shortly after his arrival, PJ's dad is called away and Sam is left in PJ's care. A border alarm goes off and the two decide to steal a police car to investigate. 

They discover a huge, tusked and furry creature and accidentally run it over with the police car in their panic. They drag the unconscious creature into the car and back to the cell. As they argue what to do about it, two strangely pale people show up claiming to be guardians and take command of what they say is a goblin. Apparently all of humankind are now in danger since a goblin made its way to the surface - an event the guardians are pledged to prevent.

The boys decide to follow the guardians through the trap door and discover a labyrinthine world beneath the surface, one as dangerous as it is awe-inspiring. The goblins are a brutish lot, led by General Eww-yuk and they like nothing more than tasty humans for a snack. 

The action is fast, furious and humorous as the boys get separated, captured, deal with man-eating grasses and fight giant insects. There are gruesome deaths and honorable heroes. The UnderEarth is a vivid, creepy, claustrophobic place. This is a great book for your students who want a little humor with their action.

Goblins has been languishing on TOM, my tbr mountain since its publication. Sadly, it seems to have gone out of print.