Meet Ruby and Bear. Their dad has just invented the most amazing thing ever — flying shoes! But his horrible boss Wendy Wedge knows that entering flying shoes will guarantee the Golden Shoe Award, and she will do anything to win the trophy.
Ruby and Bear must outwit a bully, infiltrate a shady company, and rescue their dad all while keeping the shoes hidden. This can only mean one thing. It’s . . . shoe wars! (from SCHOLASTIC BOOKS)
MY TAKE
A lighthearted romp in a place called Shoe
Town was just what I needed to provide an escape from the more serious side of the world. Don’t be concerned about the length (448 pages) as text is nicely spaced and almost every page has cartoon style illustrations to amuse readers. You’ll be flipping through the story in no time.
Some pages end with a cliff hanger and when you turn the page the plot surprise is revealed. Various sized text also add to the silliness along with quite a few “Foot” Notes. The flying shoes are fun to imagine having a pair. A great way to avoid traffic jams.
I see this as a perfect choice for reluctant readers and shoe lovers. The villains are well played and you will despise each one. Fast paced and full of surprising twists.
BOOK BIRTHDAY: MARCH 2, 2021
FIVE MORE THINGS TO LIKE ABOUT: SHOE WARS by Liz Pichon
- Ruby and Bear were pleasant main characters as was their sibling relationship. A brother and sister who truly care about each other and Dad.
- The hero coming forth at the end was not expected but oh so perfect.
- The houses where residents live are large shoe boxes. This town is all about shoes.
- Antagonist Wendy Wedge is one of the more distasteful characters you will ever find in a middle grade book. Well written and consistent right to the last page.
- The climatic end is at the Annual Shoe Awards ceremony. The gala is a perfect setting to bring all of the silliness to an end.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liz Pichon studied graphic design and has worked as an art director in the music industry.
Her freelance design work has appeared on a range of products and she has written and illustrated a number of picture books, including My Big Brother Boris.
Liz is the author of the best selling TOM GATES series for 9+ readers, which has sold 5,000,000 books in the UK. Tom Gates has been translated into 44 languages and has sold over 11 million copies around the world.
The first book in the series THE BRILLIANT WORLD OF TOM GATES won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, The Red House Book Award Best Book for Young Readers and the Waterstone¹s Best Fiction for 5-12 year olds Prize.
The fourth book in the series TOM GATES: GENIUS IDEAS MOSTLY won the Blue Peter Award for Best Story.
In 2013, Liz Pichon was a World Book Day author with TOM GATES: BEST BOOK DAY EVER (SO FAR).
Liz is married with three children and lives in Brighton.
(For more about Liz and her books visit her well done author web page)
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Always in the Middle... 
This sounds like such a fun book. I will definitely be on the look out for it.
This sounds like a fun book. I have an ARC but haven’t had time to read it yet. I’ll have to make a point of reading it now. Thanks for the great review.
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This book is unique — have never heard of a title like this. At first I saw the 400+ pages and was surprised at the length. But I enjoyed your review and can see that it is a page turner with some great action, unusual characters and a villain, and a lot of humor! Thanks for sharing.
I am fascinated by the sound of this book. Houses made of shoe boxes? Sounds like a fun read!
This sounds like such a fun story! I can imagine tons of kids will be engrossed in a book like this one, even kids who are more reluctant about reading. Also, I went to the author’s website, and I agree, it is really well-done! Thanks so much for the great review!
Honestly, if I had seen the page count, i probably would not have picked this up, so I really appreciate your comments about that. This sounds delightful. And I could use a funny book. I will try to get hold of a copy. Thanks for the post.