The Revenge of the McNasty Brothers

School Library Journal
Gr 2-4-Melvin Beederman, graduate of the Superhero Academy, is sent by Headmaster Spinner to Los Angeles, a city in desperate need of a superhero. Although not perfect (he usually needs five or six tries to leap tall buildings and his X-ray vision causes him to see everyone's underwear), Melvin is a force to be reckoned with. In Curse, he meets Candace Brinkwater when the cleaners accidentally send his superhero cape home with her. They agree to work together to take on the evil (and odoriferous) McNasty brothers. When the villains attempt to sap his strength with bologna (Melvin's weakness), the superhero overcomes them, and, in an action-packed chase, stops a speeding train (with a little help from Candace) and takes them to the police. In Revenge, the superheroes once again foil the McNasty family when the siblings break out of jail. When Melvin and Candace are imprisoned in a warehouse with 6000 pounds of bologna, all seems lost. In the end, however, they are able to think their way out of the dilemma and, once again, defeat the McNastys. The black-and-white cartoons lend action and humor to the already rollicking text. Trine and Montijo have given readers an appealing superhero and his trusty assistant. These delightfully entertaining adventure stories are a must-have for most libraries.-Rebecca Sheridan, Easttown Library & Information Center, Berwyn, PA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. ( )

The Revenge of the McNasty Brothers is the second book in the Melvin Beederman: Superhero series, which is shaping up to be a romping good series! In this installment, Melvin is settling into his tree house…he even discovers that he’s got an interesting new roommate who enjoys some of his very favorite things (namely pretzels and a certain TV show) and he’s developing a more in depth relationship with his sidekick (Candice Brinkwater). We find that there are MORE McNasty’s, the brothers (Filthy and Grunge) have two equally nasty sisters (Mudball and Puke) who help them escape from prison…from there they make the inevitable decision to kidnap Candice and it’s up to Melvin to save her from a rather devious bologna inspired trap! Will he be able to do it? You simply must read to find out!

Overall, The Revenge of the McNasty Brothers is every bit as amusing, entertaining as The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich! This series is sure to be a favorite among boys (6-10), but I also found that my 9 year old daughter loves this series and can hardly wait until she can read the next book in the series, so it will appeal to a mixed audience. It would also be a wonderful read aloud for younger kids (especially if you can pull off the narrator effect)! Trine manages to touch on important topics like doing homework before having fun (and fighting crime), he loves math (what self-respecting superhero wouldn’t?), self-esteem, persevering through difficulty, bullying, creative problem solving, the importance of the perfect evil laugh (if you’re an evil villain) and more…all the while making it hilariously funny! This is a great beginning reader book, for those making the transition to chapter books and the illustrations help to bring the story to life for readers still struggling to make the transition to books without pictures. I give it 4 stars and two thumbs up, we all loved it! ( )