Alan Mendelsohn the Boy From Mars

I was reminded of this most excellent book yesterday when I heard an interview with the author of *Mind Wide Open* on the radio. He apparently tested a bunch of "brain machines" to write about in his book, and one of them was a video game sort of thing, in which the player must learn to enter the alpha brain state at will in order to succeed at the game.Of course genius Daniel Pinkwater had this idea years ago!! I kept thinking, "You just have to fall back laughing, saying 'I give up,' of course!" Readers of *Alan Mendelsohn* will have an early advantage if this game hits the big time.As is the case for many other reviewers, this book was one of the most important of my adolescence, one of the few that I read and re-read. My brother and I would repeatedly crack up reminding each other of a certain unorthodox loudspeaker incident in it. What I most admire about this book when I think back about it now is that it keeps moving forward into surprising territory---it has a satisfying revenge fantasy plot, a self-actualization plot, an adventure/alternate reality plot, and a refreshing sense of "larger mystery" throughout. As a young adult, it helps to be reminded that there are uncharted realms outside of school's hideousness!

I am a Pinkwater fan from way back. So when I was bored, without any reading material at hand, I picked up this gem and read it. Pinkwater was still as great as I remembered, and I wish that I'd had this book in particular when I was in junior high. You see, I only now realize that I attended Bat Mastersom Jr High. Sure, it wasn't called that, but everything matched. Even from my current place in life, as a college sophmore, my junior high school experience is still a difficult question for me, and this book has helped me to put it into perspective. A must for any young person who is struggling with a world that won't accept them for their own strengths. We need more authors for catering to the intellegent youth, offering the message that even though your life seems so much harder than those who choose to remain ignorant, you can hold your head high, and you will be happier in the long run. Pinkwater deserves a spot next to Roald Dahl, Madeline L'Engel, Dr. Seuss, and the other greats of children's literature.

Daniel Pinkwater is one of my 5-10 favorite authors. Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars is his best book. The Big Orange Splot (a picture book) is a very close second.Fortunately for those of you who have loved this book since childhood, it has now been reprinted as part of the Pinkwater collection 5 Novels, which I bought approximately 5 minutes after I found it in our local bookstore. I'm reading it to my husband now (to introduce him to Pinkwater) and it is at least as good as I remembered (from the last time I read it, two or three years ago). Pinkwater's books are good read aloud although I have to stop and laugh fairly often.Context in literature:Alison Lurie's _Don't Tell the Grownups: Subversive Children's Literature_ divides children's stories into two classes. The large majority attempt to teach children how to belong to, or conform to, society. As Lurie says in her foreword: "They were about children or bunny rabbits or little engines who had problems or faults and got into difficult situations, sometimes comic and sometimes serious. But in the end they were always helped by some wise, helpful older person or rabbit or engine. The protagonists of these books, that is, learned to depend on authority for help and advice. They also learned to be hardworking, responsible, and practical; to stay on the track and be content with their lot in life."Almost all Berenstein Bears books are good examples of this. There is always a moral and if there isn't a book called The Berenstein Bears Learn their Manners there probably will be.The other, smaller class, Lurie characterizes as subversive; expressing views not commonly spoken in the adult world at the time of writing. This includes most of the books and authors I loved growing up: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, E. Nesbitt, Winnie the Pooh, Mary Poppins, George McDonald and Dr. Seuss (examples Lurie gives), and Edward Eager, Sylvia Louise Engdahl, Diane Duane, Diana Wynne Jones, Madeline L! 'Engle, Jane Langton, McCaffrey's Harper Hall trilogy, and so on. And Daniel Manus Pinkwater. His main, subversive message throughout his works is: Be Yourself. It's a lot more fun than trying to conform.Plot synopsis:I will keep this vague. On this go-around, I was surprised to find that things don't get very weird until about 100 pages in. Leonard Neeble (the narrator) is a misfit at Bat Masterson Junior High School (Pinkwater always names his schools after villians ... the Snarkout Boys go to Genghis Khan). Almost all the other kids are Beautiful Dimwits and obviously from well-to-do families to judge by their impeccable dress.His family just moved from an urban neighborhood to the suburbs. Leonard, lonely and bored, finds the best way to avoid negative attention is to be invisible. Unfortunately, his first report card shows he's doing poorly in all classes (he takes the textbooks home and reads them in a night or two each).Things look up when Alan Mendelsohn transfers in.

I just wanted to mention that this book shouldn't be under the "baby-preschool" reading level (although I don't suppose it would hurt them much to listen to it). I think it must be for about 5th grade and up. I'm in 22nd grade now and I still enjoy it.