Review: THE BIG STINK by David Lubar

August 26, 2010

THE BIG STINK
Author: David Lubar
Publisher: Starscape
Pages: 164
ISBN: 9780765323439
Publication date: 31 August 2010
Review book source: I requested an ARC from the publisher

Summary
From the publisher: It’s a stinky situation when Nathan’s school, Belgosi Upper Elementary, develops a mold problem and his class is forced to share space with the first graders. Soon the eighth graders show up too, including Rodney the bully’s older and meaner brother, Ridley. Could he be the reason for the stinky, putrid, rotten smell that seems to be following Nathan around? It’s up to Nathan, Abigail, and Mookie to solve the mystery of the big stink before it pollutes the entire town.

My thoughts
Nathan’s missions with BUM take a bit of a backseat to what’s going on at the school and in Nathan’s personal life in this fourth installment in the Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie series. He does a few sessions training in doing dead drops and seeing how guard dogs react to him, and there’s a short mission at the end, but the nefarious doings of RABID aren’t as integrated with the two main problems in Nathan’s life right now: the close quarters at school and the stink that seems to be everywhere Nathan goes.

A spoiler: that stink turns out to be Nathan himself. He discovers that the putrid scent he just can’t seem to escape is actually the rotting of his extremities. He’s had to deal with a lot of different problems with his new zombie physiology–his fragile bones that break too easily but are repaired (painfully!) with custom glue, not being able to digest food and having to feign eating around his parents, and having to hide his lack of a heartbeat from medical professionals–but his body rotting is something new and altogether more dangerous. Abigail and Dr. Cushing set about using science to try to find a cure, and even Mookie helps, delving into comic book zombie lore in search of a cure, but will this be the thing that finally does Nathan in?

In the meantime, there’s plenty of school drama–bullies, kids of all ages crammed into one school, and a sabotaged kindergarten pageant–and family drama to keep Nathan on his stinky, rotting toes. Throughout it all, Mookie and Abigail work with Nathan to solve problems and make the world a safer, happier place.

As in the first three books, this fourth of five books offers plenty of gross-out humor. Nathan’s stink is described in particular detail, and Mookie is always on hand for some sort of bodily function in the face of danger. The vomit levels were especially ramped up in this book–there’s even a double-puking-gym-teachers scene–and Nathan’s mission with BUM has him swimming through massive piles of trash. All of this delightfully gross humor is supplemented with wry observations, puns, and a touch of slapstick that will keep older elementary and younger middle school readers gagging and giggling.

More reviews
I actually couldn’t find any other reviews. Maybe we’ll see more on Goodreads after the book is published.

Previously: my reviews of the first three Nathan Abercrombie books

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Tags: children's books, david lubar, reviews, ya lit