Wise Acres

This is a great series. I first read it as an adult, and I enjoyed the dark humor, and the complex plotting. I'd get it for a kid aged 10 or 12 as well, if their reading skills were stronger than average, or for a teenager, one who's past the age to worry about looking "childish" if they read a kids' book....I was a little surprised when this wasn't the last book. The series sort of feels like it's winding toward a close in the later books, and I honestly thought this would be the last one. I should have realized that it wouldn't be of course, since it follows Dante pretty closely. His Hell has nine levels, and in this series, one level gets rewritten during the story, and then the kids go through it again. That means we can expect ...what, ten books maybe? It does feel like a series that needs to end though. I want to see the Fauster kids get their happy ending.

It might be.Wise Acres is the seventh circle (sixth if you don’t count the one that the kids destroyed in the last installment) of Heck, the place where Bad Kids go until they redeem themselves or turn 18, whichever comes first. If you haven’t read any of them, it’s like middle school, but not quite as grim. The Vice Principal of Wise Acres is none other than Lewis Carroll, and we also meet Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker among others. Dale E. Bayse wrote himself into the story again (he dies of writers’ cramp) and explains exactly how his name is pronounced. It just happens (ahem) to be exactly how I was pronouncing it anyway. It ain’t rocket science, folks! Anyway, Marlo and Milton Fauster (yes, newbie, those are their names) are back, forced to face each other in a debate after which the winner goes all the way upstairs and the loser goes straight to H-e-double-hockeysticks. Which is where, by the way, Dale E. Basye is no doubt going due to the sheer volume of groan worthy puns in this book. I just love groan worthy puns, so on that basis alone I thought this book was great! And you learn things in this book, too. Like two very powerful worlds that can ruin the most devious evil scheme. What are they? Guys, I’m trying to get you to buy this thing, not give it away.NOW, DO NOT LET THE KID YOU’RE PLANNING TO BUY THIS BOOK FOR READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH. OKAY? I MEAN IT! DO NOT SHOW THEM THE NEXT PARAGRAPH!Like many a good book, you can learn a lot from this one. A lot about grammar, punctuation and even spelling, in fact. Like any artist, the author doesn’t always follow the rules. It wouldn’t be art if he did. But he sure knows them. This book also, like all of the Heck books, is good at teaching critical thinking skills and generally exposing a lot of what makes our society tock, I mean tick. There are also lessons about loyalty and family and friendship and negotiating with strange bedfellows, or beddemons if that’s the case. Sure, it’s hugely entertaining, but it also teaches a lot about a lot, so I’d recommend it on that basis alone, also.OKAY, YOU CAN LET THEM READ THE RESTBy the way, if you’re buying it for your adult self, I didn’t mean that *you* shouldn’t read that paragraph. Heck, you’re an adult, so you can make up your own mind, right? Right. So, the bottom line of this review is down below this paragraph. Before you read that, you should know that this book contains a slew of imaginative takes on classic literature, common beliefs about the afterlife, language, and the music of the spheres. Buy it, you'll like it!And this is the bottom line.

My son and I are huge Heck fans and battle for each new book as soon as it arrives. Mama always wins because mama is bigger and can run faster.As much as I love the wit that Dale E. Basye brings to each of his books, I do have to say though that Wise Acres really goes to new heights, er, depths, of creativity and is perhaps even more fun for adults (my son hasn't had the joy of "Through the Looking Glass") who will understand Mr. Basye's humour and sheer brilliance. I encourage every reader to take this adventure with Milton and Marlo Fauster and their creepy, caustic comrades. If you have a few funkadelic brain cells, you will adore the Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go books, but ESPECIALLY Wise Acres!!

I love this series!

This is the latest in the Heck series. You can tell the author has changed some things in the story from what originally was happening in the earlier books of the series. Didn't care for that.