Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Hulme, J. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | J Fic Hulme, J. 2007 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Twelve-year-old Becker Drane has definitely got the coolest job of any seventh grader in Highland Park, New Jersey. He works as a Fixer for The Seems. From the Department ofWeather to the Department of Sleep, The Seems is a secret organization that makes sure our world keeps running-and more importantly, sticks to The Plan that's been made for it. When a Glitch is reported in the Department of Sleep, Becker is dispatched to Fix it, but he's not so sure this is a routine mission. Could the Bed Bugs, who are behind our Worst Nightmares, be responsible for the problem?
Or maybe it's The Tide, an underground organization bent on destroying The Seems? No matter what, Becker's in for quite an adventure, and it'll take all his training, a little luck, and the coolest Tools(tm) known in (or out of) The Seems to Fix the problem.
Also available in audio from Scholastic Audio
Author Notes
JOHN HULME and MICHAEL WEXLER are the editors of Voices of the Xiled , a short story collection for adults, and authors of other works of adult nonfiction. Michael and John both live in the New York City area.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-Becker Drane, a New Jersey middle schooler, was nine and hanging out in his favorite bookstore when he spotted a small box with a sign inviting him to "Apply Here for the Best Job in The World." On a lark, he filled out the odd application and forgot about it until eight months later, when a strange man told him that he had been accepted as a Candidate at the Institute for Fixing & Repair. At the IFR, Becker learned about The Seems, a place outside The World where things like Nature, Weather, Time, and Sleep are all manufactured. He proved to be an able student and now, at age 12, he's been promoted to Fixer, an operative called on to repair Malfunctions that arise. On his first Mission, Becker has to employ a variety of Tools and all the lessons he's learned in his attempt to fix the Glitch in the Department of Sleep, which is giving his brother, neighbors, and people everywhere insomnia. This is a rollicking tale, with great world-building and likable characters and a strong setup for further adventures. Unlike Garth Nix's conceptually similar "The Keys to the Kingdom" series (Scholastic), this story is upbeat and full of humor, seeming to draw a novel from David Wiesner's Sector 7 (Clarion, 1999) template. Dynamic full-page illustrations appear throughout.-Eric Norton, McMillan Memorial Library, Wisconsin Rapids, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Hulme and Wexler turn the intelligent design concept on its ear in their children's book debut, a kickoff to The Seems series. The premise: everything that happens in our world, from falling in love to the weather to time itself, is controlled by The Seems-"the place on the other side of the World responsible for generating what you see outside your window right now." Twelve-year-old Becker Drane lives a double life, secretly working for the Institute for Fixing & Repair; when something goes wrong in The Seems, "Fixers" put the cosmic cogs back in working order. Becker's first mission as a Fixer is a doozy-find the glitch in the Department of Sleep that has turned everyone in the world into an insomniac. The authors use the conceit to the fullest, creating a complex and intricate world with a sometimes daunting array of gadgets, bureaucracy, vocabulary and capitalization (a glossary is included-and welcome). These details don't become overwhelming, fortunately, thanks to the book's consistently lighthearted tone (the Department of Sleep's radio station, WDOZ, broadcasts tracks like "The Hum of the Air Conditioner [Remix]" into humans' subconscious minds). The high sense of adventure and an abundance of goofball humor should appeal especially to boys. Ages 10-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
"Reality," as we understand it, is a lie. Contrary to popular belief, a mysterious realm called The Seems has always maintained the world in which we live. Time, weather, dreams, colors and everything we perceive around us originates there, and earnest 12-year-old recruit Becker Drane is now The Seems's youngest Fixer. Fixers go about mending damages to various elements so as to keep the world running smoothly. How unfortunate, then, that the boy's first job may lead to the end of reality itself--if he happens to screw up. There's a glitch in the production of sleep, and Earth is currently beset by worldwide insomnia. Becker soon learns through trial and error that mistakes happen, and that working through them is sometimes the only way to get out of a sticky situation. Metaphors and turns of phrase take on new meanings without feeling overdone in this engaging title. The authors have a firm grasp on the potential complexity of their world, and the end result can only be described as fun. (Fiction. 11-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Take the notion of the world as massive movie set, a la the film The Truman Show, and add the concept of an elaborate underground organization, as in Men in Black, and you'll have a pretty good grasp of Hulme and Wexler's comic fantasy debut. The youngest ever Fixer in the Seems, a mirror world that constructs and maintains our own, 12-year-old Becker Drane keeps the equipment that governs human sleep from total meltdown. Armed with a tool kit full of goofy, trademarked gadgets, Becker's adventure, light on logic and heavy on gags, unfolds through flashbacks, footnotes, and references to appended documents that satirize the Seems' stuffy corporate structure. Though readers with strong, specific convictions about higher powers may give this a pass, the authors don't entirely expunge spirituality from the goings-on, showing Becker grappling with eternal questions yet remaining faithful to the Seems' hallowed Plan. In the tradition of British humorist Douglas Adams, book 1 in the planned Seems series will play best to secular genre fans, who will admire the offbeat exploration of a universe-tilting idea.--Mattson, Jennifer Copyright 2007 Booklist