“Chuck Dugan is AWOL: a novel with maps” by Eric Chase Anderson
Do you like video games?
Would you sometimes rather play video games than read a book?
Yeah?
Oh well, I like books so I am going to wah on to you about them.
BUT, pull your eyes away from your games for just a minute because… this book is a lot like a video game. Not a very flash one mind, maybe one from the 90’s, but it’s fast paced, it’s adventurous and it’s addictive. You’ll want to keep reading and reading until you get to the next level – I mean, um, chapter.
Player One: Chuck Dugan is AWOL. AWOL means Absent With Out Leave. Chuck is AWOL because he powers up and escapes in the night from his fancy pants navy school. Wagging school is a bit of a cheat but he has very good reasons. Lots of books are about evil stepmothers – well, Chuck is about to upload an evil stepfather called The Admiral, who is a rogue and a scoundrel and a meany. Chuck has to insert all his coins to stop his mother marrying, and find his real father’s secret treasure before The Admiral and his sons/goons can get their greedy mitts on it (and clock the game). Chuck encounters knifes, pistols, drowning, beatings, fireworks (yes, fireworks in the eye! Yow!) And all the other nasty tricks in the brothers’ inventory.
Chuck is always an optimist though, even when he is down to one life and hardly any strength bar. He is a brave boy with big ears who has seen “snakebite, fear, and a man shot in the knee”. Chuck is always willing to beat his own high score.
Are you a junior inventor? A master of disguise? A red head? Chuck is, and these mad skills – maybe not the red hair – help him to defeat the baddies. This multileveled adventure includes boats, flying bicycles (the popcycle), pirates, boats, spy gadgets, deep sea diving, butlers, secret passages and more boats.
Oh and I almost forgot to tell you: BONUS POINTS! This book has MAPS. Eric Chase Anderson is a brilliant illustrator and he has decorated his book with cool maps of all sorts of things. (If you have drawn a map please show me, I love maps but alas I am hopeless with a ruler).
Trivia: Eric Chase Anderson is Wes Anderson’s brother. Wes Anderson made the film “Fantastic Mr Fox”, based on the Roald Dahl book. Have you seen it? It is rad. Eric Chase Anderson is the voice of Kristofferson Silverfox in the film.
I really liked “Chuck Dugan is AWOL” and I hope you will put down your controller and pick this book up soon.
“Chuck Dugan is AWOL: a novel with maps” by Eric Chase Anderson
GAME OVER……. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE?…….yes please.
