BOOK NAME: A Whole Nother Story
AUTHOR: Dr. Cuthbert Soup

I sensed this was going to be a different kind of book when I found out that the Cheeseman family included a balding dog and a sock puppet named Steve. Actually, it sounded like my kind of family! To make matters more intriguing, this particular family is on the run from top-secret agents, international spies, and one chimpanzee.

Mr. Cheeseman is an inventor and all the people chasing him want one thing, his greatest creation, a time machine! His family includes three children. They are nice kids, but have no friends. Why is that? The problem is that they never stay in one place for very long. They are always on the go because their father is afraid that those chasing them will use his invention for evil purposes. And he is correct!

Sometimes the kids have to get creative to keep themselves occupied. For example, the youngest child, Crandall, created his own best friend, Steve the sock puppet. The reason Crandall holds onto the puppet so dearly is because it was a gift from his mother. She passed away from a mysterious illness and so he takes comfort in her gift. Steve was a “snarky” looking puppet and “never missed an opportunity to comment on anything and everything in his annoyingly squeaky voice, which sounded not unlike a dolphin with laryngitis, if you can imagine such horrible squeaking.”

This book is full of these kinds of witty descriptions that had me chuckling throughout it. I don’t want to give away their adventures, but Dr. Cuthbert Soup does make an appearance as the head of the National Center for Unsolicited Advice. After reading this book, I’m definitely ready for some more Soup!