The Gollywhopper Games

May 1, 2014

Gr 4-7-Due to the overwhelming success of the first Gollywhopper Games, the Golly Toy and Game Company decides to host another competition. Readers meet an all-new cast of characters as they compete to win.

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February 4, 2008
When his father is charged with embezzlement, 12-year-old Gil Goodson becomes an outcast at school and his family sinks under a black cloud that doesn't lift, not even after his dad is acquitted. From this somber premise, first-time novelist Feldman concocts an outlandish method by which Gil will come out on top again—and get enough cash so his family can move. But winning the Gollywhopper Games, a contest sponsored by the toy company that fired his father, means besting 25,000 entrants in a series of brainteasers. Gil makes it to the final 10, where two teams compete against each other. His teammates are as obnoxious as the golden ticket holders on Charlie Bucket's famous tour, though not as imaginatively drawn, and their bickering nearly drains the fun from the whacked-out challenges they face. Indeed, the appeal of the book lies in the puzzles, which involve unscrambling clues hidden in rhyming verses and then tackling various stunts (obstacle courses, mazes, scavenger hunts) that get increasingly difficult as the field is winnowed. As the outcome of this intricate, potentially interactive story is never in doubt, many kids will want to put the story on pause to try to work out each answer. Final illustrations not seen by PW
. Ages 10-14.

July 1, 2014
Twelve-year-old Cameron Schein is desperate to compete in the second Gollywhopper Games, and he gets his wish. But so does his older brother. With expert pacing and high-stakes tension, Feldman leads her diverse ensemble cast through a range of puzzles and challenges that will engage readers and keep them guessing about just how far Cameron's abilities can take him in the contest.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 15, 2014
Bert Golliwop and his executive team at Golly Toy and Game Company decide to hold a second round of Gollywhopper Games in this sequel. Enter 12-year-old Cameron, an ordinary middle child with an actual ticket to said games courtesy of older brother Spencer, who entered him thinking it would double his chances to get in. Mild-mannered Cameron might never have considered it. Spencer plays all the angles, and his competitiveness keeps the brothers at odds throughout. Cameron doesn't think much of his chances and really believes that his family hasn't any faith in him either, but he finds the games' puzzles intriguing. His video camera--his lifelong companion--has trained him to see things cinematically, and his observation skills become key. Readers might feel that they are following Cameron to his inevitable, big win, but Feldman is canny and employs hints of a possible act of sabotage to keep the outcome slightly more uncertain. Every puzzle is clearly explained but never too quickly, giving readers a chance to make their own guesses. (There are some amusing posers, but nothing requires calculus.) Some moral and ethical questions arise, but there's no time for soul-searching in this mildly amusing entertainment. Puzzle lovers who pick the book up wanting to hang out in the Gollywhopper world one more time will find themselves with a better-than-average sequel. (Fiction. 8-12)

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