Sarah A. (sla506) -
Helpful Score: 1
A couple of my seventh grade students have been nagging me to read this book, and I'm so glad I finally did! I couldn't put it down. So many times they suggest books for me to read that they love, but I end up thinking they're dreadful. BUT, not this one!
The beginning of the book was hilarious - one of the funniest I've read - and it was really clever humor. All of the sudden, the book takes a serious turn. There were parts that were a little slow, but the end was action packed, and there were many twists in the plot that were totally unexpected.
I wish the humor in the beginning was maintained throughout, but that's my only complaint. This was an "extraordinary" book!
The beginning of the book was hilarious - one of the funniest I've read - and it was really clever humor. All of the sudden, the book takes a serious turn. There were parts that were a little slow, but the end was action packed, and there were many twists in the plot that were totally unexpected.
I wish the humor in the beginning was maintained throughout, but that's my only complaint. This was an "extraordinary" book!
My son is a reluctant reader, but plowed through this in several days. Richard Yancey seems to have just the right formula to keep boys focused!
Jennifer W. (GeniusJen) reviewed The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Alfred Kropp, Bk 1) on + 5322 more book reviews
Reviewed by Cana Rensberger for TeensReadToo.com
Alfred Kropp is big enough to play football, but too clumsy to be any good, and too dense to remember the playbook. In fact, Alfred doesn't really excel at anything. Except for his height and big head, he's pretty much average. Ordinary. If only he were smaller, he could go through each day unnoticed.
He has no father and his mother died of cancer when he was only twelve. For two years he's been juggled between various foster homes until his Uncle Farrell appears and takes him in. And that's when his life becomes anything but ordinary.
A slick, devious stranger offers Uncle Farrell one million dollars to steal a special sword back from Mr. Samson, Farrell's boss. Alfred has many questions. How do they know it really belongs to the stranger? What happens to him if his uncle gets caught for stealing? Why is this man asking them to steal it? Uncle Farrell threatens Alfred. He has no choice. He either helps steal the sword, or he goes back to foster care.
As soon as Alfred wields the sword in his hands, he knows it is no ordinary sword. He finds out he's holding Excalibur, King Arthur's sword. The same sword that knights have been guarding for centuries. From the moment Alfred steals the sword he is pitched headlong into a world unlike any he has ever known. A world that clashes with knights, swords, fast cars, helicopters, daggers, guns, and much more.
Alfred, the ordinary foster kid, finds he has a not-so-ordinary connection to a world forgotten, and through that connection, he has been charged with saving the world by saving Excalibur. An extraordinary task for an ordinary kid.
My fourteen year-old son grabbed this book from my shelf before I had a chance to start it and daily badgered me to read it once he'd finished. I will be adding the second and third installments of this series to my library. This action-packed adventure is a must read. I dare you to try to put it down once you've begun. In THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALFRED KROPP, Rick Yancey has done the impossible by merging a world of knights in shining armor with today's age of technology, an extraordinary combination! Amazing!
Alfred Kropp is big enough to play football, but too clumsy to be any good, and too dense to remember the playbook. In fact, Alfred doesn't really excel at anything. Except for his height and big head, he's pretty much average. Ordinary. If only he were smaller, he could go through each day unnoticed.
He has no father and his mother died of cancer when he was only twelve. For two years he's been juggled between various foster homes until his Uncle Farrell appears and takes him in. And that's when his life becomes anything but ordinary.
A slick, devious stranger offers Uncle Farrell one million dollars to steal a special sword back from Mr. Samson, Farrell's boss. Alfred has many questions. How do they know it really belongs to the stranger? What happens to him if his uncle gets caught for stealing? Why is this man asking them to steal it? Uncle Farrell threatens Alfred. He has no choice. He either helps steal the sword, or he goes back to foster care.
As soon as Alfred wields the sword in his hands, he knows it is no ordinary sword. He finds out he's holding Excalibur, King Arthur's sword. The same sword that knights have been guarding for centuries. From the moment Alfred steals the sword he is pitched headlong into a world unlike any he has ever known. A world that clashes with knights, swords, fast cars, helicopters, daggers, guns, and much more.
Alfred, the ordinary foster kid, finds he has a not-so-ordinary connection to a world forgotten, and through that connection, he has been charged with saving the world by saving Excalibur. An extraordinary task for an ordinary kid.
My fourteen year-old son grabbed this book from my shelf before I had a chance to start it and daily badgered me to read it once he'd finished. I will be adding the second and third installments of this series to my library. This action-packed adventure is a must read. I dare you to try to put it down once you've begun. In THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALFRED KROPP, Rick Yancey has done the impossible by merging a world of knights in shining armor with today's age of technology, an extraordinary combination! Amazing!
