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Summary
Summary
A kooky kid is banished to another planet in this hilarious adventure about a futuristic world where different is dangerous, imagination is insanity, and creativity is crazy !
Norbert Riddle lives in the United State of Earth, where normal means following the rules, never standing out, and being exactly the same as everyone else, down to the plain gray jumpsuits he wears every day. He's been normal his whole life -- until a moment of temporary hilarity when he does a funny impression of their dictator, Loving Leader . . . and gets caught!
Now, Norbert's been arrested and banished to planet Zorquat 3 in the Orion Nebula, where kids who defy the rules roam free in the Astronuts camp. Norbert has been taught his whole life that different is wrong, but everyone at Astronuts is crazy, creative, and insane!
Norbert wants nothing more than to go back to earth where things are awful but at least they're familiar. But he soon realizes that being different could be better -- and maybe the crazy farm is exactly where he belongs after all.
Author Notes
James Patterson was born in Newburgh, New York, on March 22, 1947. He graduated from Manhattan College in 1969 and received a M. A. from Vanderbilt University in 1970. His first novel, The Thomas Berryman Number, was written while he was working in a mental institution and was rejected by 26 publishers before being published and winning the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery.
He is best known as the creator of Alex Cross, the police psychologist hero of such novels as Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls. Cross has been portrayed on the silver screen by Morgan Freeman. He has had eleven on his books made into movies and ranks as number 3 on the Hollywood Reporter's '25 Most Powerful Authors' 2016 list. He also writes the Women's Murder Club series, the Michael Bennett series, the Maximum Ride series, Daniel X series, the Witch and Wizard series, BookShots series, Private series, NYPD Red series, and the Middle School series for children. He has won numerous awards including the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader's Digest Reader's Choice Award.
James Patterson introduced the Bookshots Series in 2016 which is advertised as All Thriller No Filler. The first book in the series, Cross Kill, made the New York Times Bestseller list in June 2016. The third and fourth books, The Trial, and Little Black Dress, made the New York Times Bestseller list in July 2016. The next books in the series include, $10,000,000 Marriage Proposal, French Kiss, Hidden: A Mitchum Story (co-authored with James O. Born). and The House Husband (co-authored Duane Swierczynski).
Patterson's novel, co-authored with Maxine Paetro, Woman of God, became a New York Times bestseller in 2016.
Patterson co-authored with John Connoly and Tim Malloy the true crime expose Filthy Rich about billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Eppstein.
In January 2017, he co-authored with Ashwin Sanghi the bestseller Private Delhi. And in August 2017, he co-authored with Richard Dilallo, The Store.
The Black Book is a stand-alone thriller, co-authored by James Patterson and David Ellis.
In April 2018, he co-authored Texas Ranger with Andrew Bourelle.
In May 2018, he co-authored Private Princess with Rees Jones.
In August 2018 he co-authored Fifty Fifty with Candice Fox.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Conformity is the ironclad rule on the United State of Earth, where individuality and imagination are banned, and middle school students wearing mandatory gray jumpsuits pledge subservience to the despotic Loving Leader daily. The laws of the land don't sit well with seventh-grader Norbert Riddle, a creative cut-up who has lived with his servile aunt and uncle since his parents were whisked away by the Truth Police. Arrested after doing a mocking impersonation of Loving Leader, Norbert is banished to another planet to live at Astro-Nuts Camp for young earthlings who are deemed "different and dangerous." He attempts to convince the camp honchos that he is a die-hard conformist loyal to Loving Leader, in hopes that he'll be sent back to Earth and find his parents. Buoyed by Aly's boisterous drawings, Norbert's droll wordplay, wisecracking banter, and oddball characters, the comedy reaches farcical heights before careening to an unforeseen conclusion. The authors balance the inanity with real-life, affecting emotion, convincingly depicting Norbert's fright as well as his yearning for his parents. A parting clue that Norbert has another space adventure ahead should get a thumbs-up from readers. Ages 8-12. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
In the "United State of Earth," everyone is normal (read: exactly the same). When seventh grader Norbert thoughtlessly mocks their leader, he's sent to a sort of prison-camp on planet Zarquat 3 for creative non-conformists. Narrator Norbert's dexterity with words and the sketchlike cartoon illustrations add humor, and his (outlandish) journey toward self-discovery manages to balance pathos with heart and a positive message about being true to oneself. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In the United State of Earth, where difference is a disease and creativity is a crime, Norbert cracks a jokebig mistake.Seventh-grader Norbert Riddle lives a dreary life in Loving Leader's authoritarian regime, unsuccessfully searching for his parents since they disappeared seven years ago. When he impetuously performs an impression of Loving Leader for his classmates, the Truth Police descend, and Norbert is exiled to "the Astro-Nuts prison on planet Zorquat Three." Clocking in at 300-plus pages with little real action or humor, this attempt at a humorous twist on the dystopian genre falls short across the board. With just a glimpse of the dictatorship compared to the vast majority of the book describing the prison, some readers will have a difficult time inhabiting Norbert's perspectiveis an ice cream sundae unusual because it's breakfast or because it's something he's never had before? Stilted phrasing, particularly to create tension at the end of chapters, backfires and makes the text drag. Constant use of language casually dismissive of mental diversity assumes an outmoded sensibility. Primary characters are described by hair color and have (paper-) white skin in the illustrations.Not nearly as nonconformistor funnyas the title promises. (Dystopian adventure. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Pulling the rug out from under a conventional scenario, the protagonist of this latest Jimmy book campaigns to be sent back to his literally gray and dismal police state planet after an illegal display of imagination lands him in a camp for misfits. To be sure, Norbert does have an ulterior motive: to track down his parents, who were arrested years before by the Truth Police. But the 12-year-old exile has a natural talent for improv and a satiric impersonation of the United States of Earth's megalomaniac Loving Leader. In no time, he's hosting a Saturday Night Live-style TV show that becomes a huge hit on two planets and portends (perhaps in sequels) revolution. Loving Leader's big-screen rants clearly tweaks 1984, but even readers unfamiliar with that classic will chortle at the relentless wordplay, a supporting cast made up almost entirely of caricatured grown-ups and young pranksters, and Norbert's winning mix of glibness and gullibility. Aly's scribbly ink-and-wash line drawings add punchlines as well as comical portraits of the major characters. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Like the rest of his canon, Patterson's middle-grade titles fly off the shelves. This latest from his eponymous imprint will do just fine.--Peters, John Copyright 2018 Booklist