Out of Patience

Brian Meehl's OUT OF PATIENCE tells of pre-teen Jake's father's dream of opening the American Toilet Museum. The town they are in is cursed with obscurity and bad history and Jake's tired of waiting for it to dry up and blow away - he wants out. When his father brings home a relic to fulfill the town curse's last prophecy, trouble and mystery begins in this fun story of baseball and intrigue.

I loved this book when I read it over the summer. Lots of "LOL" places for me, and I don't often laugh out loud when I read. But when my 11 year old son started reading it this week, he was not only "LOL" but also reading passages out loud to me! Instead of playing basketball or a video game, he was reading this book non stop. He is now talking it up with his middle school buddies. Teachers of YA Lit should note: "Out of Patience" is a wonderful selection for a reluctant reader, yet also appeals to adults and a more sophisticated YA reader. On the surface it may appear to be a guys story but it really appeals to both genders, thanks to the terrific female protagonist! I disagree with the prior reviews that indicate a weak or unbelieveable ending; you are looking with too much of an adult eye, and need to consider the (main)audience. Does a book about toilets and manure really need a "believeable" ending? I enjoyed every page of this novel and look forward to future works by Meehl. By the way, "Out of Patience" would make a terrific summer movie. Are you listening, Disney?

Brian Meehl's book incorporates some of the srongest elements of the best contemporary young adult's authors such as J K Rowling and Roald Dahl, and plunks it all down in the middle of a small town out in the vast, grassy plains of the midwest, where Mr. Meehl grew up. Yet his writing style is distinctly Meelish from first paragrasph to the last, as he dispalys a daring, occasionally bordering on reckless willingness to follow his muse and resist making safe or homogenised artistic choices. The midwestern-ness is wonderfully authentic, and he writes from a point of view that's compassionate yet brimming with a witty thread of (sometimes dark) irony. Jake, the twelve year old hero of the book, dreams of someday escaping what he considers a terminally dead beat town. His optimistic plumber dad is convinced that he can bring tourists (and life) back to the town of Patience by opening a toilet museum, so he's been collecting antique plungers, toilets, odd pairs of men's/lady's rooms signs and the like. The flashback subplot follows suit, delving into the tale of how Jake's frontier ancestor purchased one of the first flush toilets and brought it to Patience. This, in turn, leads to a humerous and intriguing exploration of the evolution of the mechanical technology, sociology and superstition that surrounded toilets and outhouses in frontier times, which like any aspect of human psychology is a lot weirder, funnier and more colourful than one might imagine. Jake is plunged into anxiety (so to speak) when his father aquires the antique so-called "Plunger of Destiny" on E-Bay for the museum, fullfilling the crazy frontier preacher's prophesy from a hundred years ago that when the "Plunger of Destiny " comes back to town, a curse will be set in motion. It sounds a little hoaky on paper, and personally, I'm not too fond of "curse" plots, so I was mentally daring Mr. Meehl to make it work. So I was surprised and gratified he made it work so well and so organically, in part because one's never quite sure if the events that unfold actually are the curse, or just coincidence. This book is never preachy, but has plenty of between-the-lines insight into human relationships and the true nature and value of community.

With bookstores so depressingly full of kids' novels that are straining so hard to be hip it hurts, "Out of Patience" is a breath of pure oxygen, even with the knockout stink of the local fertilizer farm. First of all, it paints the most endearing portrait of Kansas since... well, okay, The Wizard of Oz. And Brian Meehl has so-called "prairie eyes" of his own when it comes to telling a terrific story: he keeps a sharp eye on the old-fashioned ground of great plot, humor, and vividly drawn characters, but he's just as likely to sucker-punch you with descriptive writing of unexpected gorgeousness that rolls in like a midwestern storm. Kids will think all the historical gems and toilet trivia are a total blast, but never intrusive. The young heroes are smart, funny, refreshingly unobnoxious kids who are a credit to 12-yr-olds everywhere (I LOVED Sira and her motel-owning Pakistani family). I loved the Nowheresville atmosphere where the line between adults and kids is blurred by the sweet necessity of respecting everybody's weirdnesses, and EVERYONE turns out for the baseball game. But most of all, I reeeeally want the experience of eating Thunderstone Ice Cream (you'll just have to read it to know what I'm talking about :)). The action and mystery will hold readers til the very last page, the homespun wit ("Howie held a secret about as long as a dog holds onto a slice of lemon") is a total treat, and some moments of real peril are extremely effective. All in all, this is a wonderfully unique and entertaining book that deserves an extra star for that ever-elusive quality of Boy Appeal... my son said it was his favorite summer reading choice ever. "Patience" pays off!

When I review a children's book, I have a highly sophisticated system of keeping track of a book's funny passages and interesting moments. I take tiny pieces of paper and stick them between the pages. By and large, this is a good system and one that, until now, worked for me. That is, until I came across Brian Meehl's, "Out of Patience". By the time I reached page 50, there were already 15 tiny pieces of paper sticking out of the book. As indications of quality go, I can't think of any better sign than a book that resembles nothing so much as host to a million tiny paper bookmarks. Meehl has a talent and a sense of humor that hoists him heads and tails above the competition. Unfortunately, while his book has a brilliant conceit, fabulous characters, and the zing of small-town credibility (i.e. he knows what it's like to live in one), he's better on set-up than on pay-off. Nevertheless, reading "Out of Patience" is a joy. I don't think I've enjoyed reading a book as much as I enjoyed this one in a long long time. It's good for kids to have dreams, right? Well Jake has one but it's a secret. Jake dreams of someday leaving the town of Patience as soon as he is able to do so. He can't tell this to his dad, though. Mr. Waters, the town's plumber, is too involved in the idea of creating the ATM - American Toilet Museum. He's been collecting toilet memorabilia for years now and in his quest he's gone and done something that leaves his son speechless in horror. He purchased the Plunger of Destiny on eBay. According to the town curse, the final destruction of Patience, Kansas will occur when the Plunger of Destiny returns to the tiny dying town. Now that event has occurred and Jake is fully convinced that the curse is in full swing. He's going to have to become, "a detective on curse patrol", keeping a watchful and vigilant eye for anything that might indicate the final destruction's form. Unfortunately, it may be too late to do anything at all. People have been comparing this book to Louis Sacher's, "Holes", and they've got their reasons for doing so. Both books involve family curses and buried treasure. Both authors know how to make something funny. I mean guffawing on the subway funny and not the tittering behind your hand in the salon variety. But while Sacher may lead in the storytelling department, Meehl wins in the One Liner and Bon Mots category. It's really Meehl's writing that makes the whole book worthy of reading aloud to anyone and everyone you know. For example, when Jake wants to know if his father's girlfriend is leaving them he knows that, "Asking her a direct question was like doing a search on Wanda.com and getting a dozen pop-ups". When something inexplicable occurs in nature it's, "for reasons only scientists who have yet to be born will someday understand". The phrase for someone who's a bit loopy? "A half-bubble off plumb". The term for reading a lot? "Butt travel". And someone who's lived in Kan