Book Review: Moldylocks and the Bear by Bertram Boo {Plainfield Chronicles Book 2}

Title: Moldylocks and The Bear
Author: Bertram Boo, Plainfield Press
Series Order: The Plainfield Chronicles # 2
Publisher: Plainfield Press
Date of Publication: Sept. 23/ 2014
Age Ranges: Middle Grade (my 8 yr old loved it though)
Genre: Kids fiction, Fairytale retelling, mystery, kids comedy


Synopsis:

The zombies of Plainfield are back in this fast-paced, limb-flinging follow-up to the bestselling "Scar and the Wolf." Meet a whole new batch of characters, discover new places around town, and find out what happens to lost little body parts trying to find their way home.

Moldylocks LaMort has always felt like she's the biggest loser in Plainfield. But now she finally has a chance to get some respect -- and get out of town -- by winning the lead role in "Grizzlylocks," Plainfield's annual town musical.

Moldylocks should be a cinch to win. After all, she's the biggest bear expert in Plainfield. But her arch-enemy, Jeminy Stinkpit, wants the role, too, and she and her mom will do anything, legal or not, to get it. To make things even more complicated, a family of *real* bears has just moved into town, and Moldylocks finds out she really didn't know anything about bears at all.

See what happens as Moldlocks's life goes from bad to worse to disastrous until she's finally forced to answer some hard questions:

What would you do if you found out everything you knew about someone was wrong?
Will she betray a friend to get what she wants?
Will she be able to drink bee barf?

Find out in "Moldylocks and the Bear" -- a story about losers, winners, the new kid in class, musical theater, bearrorism, and mismatched feet.

And, of course, zombies.

Basically, it's the story you know, just brainier.

 My Thoughts:

I have to say I absolutely love this series!  The first book, Scar and the Wolf, just totally won me over.  It has drama, mystery, and comedy.  Oh and the best part? There is zombies.  But zombies more for kids that can still be entertaining to grown ups too.  
So, yeah, I love a series that is basically geared toward the middle grade crowd (although my 8 year old still enjoyed it).  In a way, that is a huge compliment to the author because it is that interesting that it can keep a 30-something woman hooked to the last page.  Bravvos!
So each book takes a different fairy tale, like Goldilocks and the three bears, and completely turns it on its head.  There is zombies in it, a deeper storyline and morals that can still teach us today.  And there is lots of comedy.  
Our main character, Moldylocks, is this little zombie girl who is a huge fan of Bears.  Of course, she is a fan of the misconception of bears.  Besides bears, she is also a talented actor in the local plays.  Moldylocks puts up with bullying from the popular girl at school and the other classmates and seems to be lonely a lot.  
The local theater where her mom directs is putting on a huge play about Bears and is having a contest for the main part.  This is Moldy's chance to get out of Plainfield through the acting scholarship up for grabs.  
But she isn't the only one who wants that part and Moldylocks ends up learning more about Bears than she ever thought possible, especially when a family of bears moves into the area.

These bears are pretty awesome!  They have a great sense of style, have wonderful taste in music, and have the most wonderful attitude when it comes to less than appealing neighbors. 
In fact, the way this trio of bears deals with the judgmental and rude zombies is something we could all learn from, myself included.  Skip, Muffy, and Brockster open up their home to the zombies trying to show them bears aren't the vicious killers everyone believes them to be.  
Unfortunately, the town is too caught up in the rumors to actually give this family the benefit of the doubt.  There are only two zombies that will open their minds and hearts to this family to learn the real truth about bears.  

The set of characters in this book are truly well written.  We see Moldylocks grow as she learns throughout the story that not everything is as it seems.  I think one of my favorite characters was Phileas.  He was just a darling! 

The characters were amazing and the morals in the story were enough to make me fall in love with the story but then the creativity shown throughout will knock your socks off!
Simply put, Moldylocks and the Bear is a fun book to read!
The different names will give you a chuckle:

"Stinkpit Manor, Ebnerzer Rotbody, Calvin Gutbucket..."

And then there is the descriptions of the different zombies that will make you snort out loud:

"Emily Shank was just a leg, Tom Head was just a head with no body, and Arnold was the hired help with just a body and no head..."

And finally, the alliteration is astounding too!

" back-up's back-up was backpacking; A finger flinger finder's fee..."

However, there is a few grammatical errors that I found through the book.  It wasn't enough to take away from the story, but you may want to remember this if you will not be reading out loud to your kids.  My kids and I actually made a little game of it and if they were reading by themselves they would bring to me any errors they found and we could correct them accordingly.  

But again, it was just a few and nothing that would take away from the overall story. 

Overall, Moldylocks and the Bear is a wonderful story that is filled with heart, fun, and lessons that all of us could learn from.  

And of course there is zombies! What's not to love?

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Everything expressed here is my personal feelings and opinions.  

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