A contemporary fantasy perfect for new readers of middle grade. The text layout is easy to read and appealing illustrations appear frequently. The story is also a plus with two appealing characters in Alex and Lily. It’s not a dog story like I first thought, but there are plenty of talking animals.

The setting is Underland where Alex lives with Aunt Zinnia. His parents died in an unfortunate accident and a coder like Alex not only misses them dearly but also misses not having the internet readily available.

The next character entering the plot is a stray cat that Lily has befriended. His name is Fuzzypants or as he liked to be called, Professor Fuzzypants PhD. He was originally recruited for a top secret government project, Project WOOFF (Weaponized Optimization of Flora/Fauna), that developed intelligent, speaking animals.

The project supposedly ended many years ago but now it seems it hasn’t as someone is continuing to experiment. This leads Alex and Lily to investigate and there’s more than a few surprises along the way as they uncover secrets his parents never told him.

The 23 chapters are fast paced and fun to read. There’s a hint there may be a sequel at the end of this story and readers will be more than ready for one. PROJECT WOOFF is a great addition to the beginning middle grade readers’ shelf.

BOOK BIRTHDAY: October 13, 2026 PAGES:192

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I’ve been working as an author and an illustrator or over thirty years, but I’ve been drawing and making up stories for as long as I can remember.

I grew up outside of Albany, New York and I live not far from there today. I went to college at Alfred University, then graduate school at the University of Buffalo. I have a studio in my home which I share with my wife, Christy, and a bunch of pets.

When I’m not working on illustration and children’s books, I teach as a professor at Russell Sage College in Albany, NY. (WEBSITE)

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It’s almost time for another Marvelous Middle Grade Monday. Won’t you join us? It’s here I share highlights and links from other bloggers about middle grade books. Many of the posts will have reviews, interviews, and tips on writing. Take a look at PAST MMGM POSTS. Details on how to submit your post can be found in the right margin.

He-Man is not a new character but one that first appeared in 1981 as a Master’s of the Universe protagonist in He-Man and the Power Sword. In SKELETOR AT MY HOMEWORK, we meet Porter Avery a boy who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his dad. They don’t always agree on bed times and studying for tests, but one night Porter falls into a magician box and now his problems have increased ten-fold.

He ends up captured in Eternia as He-Man and Skeletor prepare to battle with the result having an impact on the entire planet. Will young Porter make it back home or is he destined to become pet food in this fantasy world?

The text based novel has frequent illustrations which young readers will appreciate. The story moves along at a fast pace with a heartwarming ending. The tale is perfect for any MG reader, especially those reluctant to pick up a book. The series will get its second installment next year with Please Don’t Tell My Dad.

ABOUT STEPHAN PASTIS

Stephan Pastis took an unusual route to becoming a number-one best-selling comics creator: he went to law school. It’s not that he didn’t want to become a cartoonist – as a child growing up in the Los Angeles suburb of San Marino, he spent many happy hours off by himself drawing. He was routinely called on to create cartoons for his school newspapers. But by the time he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in political science, Pastis – a completely self-taught artist – felt it unlikely that his cartoons would ever be syndicated.

So he found himself sitting in class at UCLA Law School, hopelessly bored, sketching the character Rat (who would later become a mainstay of all his future comic strips). Creative inspiration followed him through graduation in 1993 to his first law firm job in San Francisco, where by 1996 he finally started submitting his comics to syndicates. Persisting through an initial spate of rejections, Stephan Pastis created his signature strip Pearls Before Swine, chronicling his worldview through the misadventures of arrogant Rat, dumb-but-sweet Pig, philosophical Goat, along with a brood of other anthropomorphized animals and many, many puns. The strip was eventually syndicated in 1999 and can now be read in over 800 newspapers, dozens of book collections, and on GoComics.com. Several of the collections have appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers list.

In 2013, inspired to break out of the box of a daily comic strip, Pastis took on the new challenge of becoming a children’s author, penning the first book in a projected middle grade series called Timmy Failure, about an inept kid detective and his sidekick polar bear. Fail it did not; receiving stellar reviews and becoming an instant New York Times and National Indie bestseller. Now published in nearly 40 languages worldwide, Pastis’ defective detective has become a breakout children’s book character.

ABOUT WILL HENRY

Will Henry is the creator behind Ordinary Bill and Wallace the Brave, both distributed on GoComics.com. His professional career began with his strip Room Mates, which was published in The Daily Campus during his time at the University of Connecticut. He draws his inspiration from everyday life and in the age of the smart-phone, he aims to re-create a world in which kids “still collect bugs and fly kites and eat ice cream cones upside-down.” He lives in Rhode Island with his wife, his cat, and his mistress, the sea.

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It’s almost time for another Marvelous Middle Grade Monday. Won’t you join us? It’s here I share highlights and links from other bloggers about middle grade books. Many of the posts will have reviews, interviews, and tips on writing. Take a look at PAST MMGM POSTS. Details on how to submit your post can be found in the right margin.