Despicable Me: The Junior Novel

The book is just as good as the movie. I loved the movie and the book was a good car trip read.

This is a charming audio story that is told in an entertaining way. The voice is pleasant and animated enough to keep a kids' attention. It is the story of Gru, an unsavory character, who lives in a suburban house in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. Unlike his neighbors, Gru lives in a black house with a dead lawn. He has, under his command, a million yellow minions who do his every wish. One day he needs to rob a ray gun from another thief, Victor, and has a hard time achieving his goal. He needs the ray gun to shrink the moon and steal it. He tries many times and finds different ways to attempt to get it. One time he adopts three little girls and has them deliver cookies to the man who has the gun. Now he has a problem, he has to get rid of the girls. The girls, however, have their own agenda and after wanting to be adopted for a long time, they are going to make it happen. The girls want a father so they see him in a different way than others do. The super-villain has a full plate trying to keep the girls distanced from himself. When Gru is laid-off, and passed over for a younger agent, he gives up until the girls and his minion step up to help him. Gru is very touched by their loyalty. The bad doctor, Nefarious, who is Gru's accomplice, doesn't like the girls because they are changing the despicable man into a softy. He calls the orphanage and the girls are taken back. Gru, trying to forget the girls, returns to his goal, stealing the moon. On his trip to the moon,he finds more than the vastness of space, when he remembers the three little girls who have touched his life and are waiting for him on Earth. Meanwhile, the girls are kidnapped by Victor in an attempt to have the shrunken moon for himself. I recommend this story for children older than six. I liked it better than the movie.