Reality Leak

When Mr. Keen arrives in a small farm town with a wooden crate, strange things are observed, from pants that walk by themselves to a invisible ink factory. Bryan is determined to find out the secrets behind these strange occurrences, and with the aid of a girl sleuth the two set out to uncover the bizarre truth of world-changing events in REALITY LEAK.

Almost every day Bryan Zilcher sits by the roadside, trying to sell his invented beverage, LemonMoo, so he can save up enough money to buy a computer. A semi whizzes by, and out tumbles a box. But what climbs out of the box is even stranger: a man named Mr. Keen, who seems more than a little weird to Bryan. When Mr. Keen moves his business into an empty factory in town, Bryan's suspicions get higher and higher. Trouble with a capital T is invading the town . . . can Bryan find a way to stop it? This book was zany, crazy fun. It's got great characters like Tripper and Spot, with plenty of action and excitement. Full of bizarre things like flying money, popcorn planting, and possible vampires, Reality Leak was a blast to read. Perfect for middle grade readers who enjoy a good dose of oddball humor.

This is a very, very fun book to read. From the opening page, the reader is taken on a wild and crazy ride in the company of quirky, likeable and, ultimately, very human characters. It's a mystery story and an adventure story, as well as being very funny. I haven't laughed out loud like this while reading a "middle grade" book since discovering Sid Fleischman. Every time you think you know where the story is going it takes another twist and the reader is left to marvel at Ms. Sensel's imagination and the ease with which she presents both scenes of humor and poignancy. I read portions of the book aloud to some of the "underachieving" seventh- and eighth-grade students I work with - reluctant readers, to say the least. They insisted I start back at the beginning, and soon we were passing the book around so we could each take turns at reading it aloud to the group. What more could you want from a novel?

Dangers abound in the world of children's literature. The wary author, ear cocked to the wind, nose sniffing about for trouble, must be vigilant every step of the way. And when an author attempts their very first middle grade novel for children, the dangers are likely to increase tenfold. So ran my line of reasoning as I idly picked up and perused Joni Sensel's, "Reality Leak". The book, let us face it, has a charming cover design but how fares the material inside? I was prepared to be disappointed. I was, instead, truly delighted. Living up to its illustrations (and then some) Ms. Sensel brings child readers a book that wants nothing more than to entertain and be entertaining in the process. Mission, as you will see, most certainly accomplished. It was a summer day like any other for eleven-year-old Bryan Zilcher. He was just sitting on the side of the highway in an attempt to sell some LemonMoo (lemon flavored milk of his own invention) when out of the back of a semi flies a wooden crate bearing the label, "WARNING: DO NOT LICK." From this box emerges none other than Archibald Keen, a white-suited stick of a man who describes himself as the president of Acme, Inc. Without further ado Mr. Keen is off, purchasing the local defunct factory and hiring all the residents as employees without going into such dull details as what it is they're actually going to MAKE when working for him. Bryan's suspicious, and with good reason. It seems that strange things are happening all the time now. Notes appear out of toasters. Little girls blow bubbles in the shapes of letters. Trains appear to be running in a town where there are no tracks. Now it's up to Bryan and his friend Spot (a girl who thinks she's a canine) to investigate the real story behind Acme, Inc. and find out whether or not Mr. Keen's intentions are noble or nefarious. I referred vaguely to dangers associated with first time middle grade authors, and for a second there I was desperately afraid that "Reality Leak" would fall prey to one of the biggest mistakes a writer can make. When an author starts haphazardly throwing all the cool stuff they can think of into a story so as to make it kid friendly, they usually end up creating a gawdawful mess instead. Warily I scanned the pages of "Reality Leak" for any hint of undeserved goofiness and at first, to my chagrin, it looked like Sensel was doing just that. For a chapter or two it seemed that she'd given in to her worst whims and created ridiculous stuff without rhyme or reason. Really, the girl that thinks that she's a dog seemed a clear indication of out-of-the-blue nuttiness. Then I read a little further and everything began to fall neatly into place. If there's no rhyme or reason that's because the book demands a complete and utter lack of it. Keep reading and everything begins to even out. The story's plot has a well-thought out beginning, middle, and end and the arc of the tale melds beautifully. Even Mr. Keen (a worthy successor to Roald