Kathleen Karr (Children's Literature)
Daniel Pinkwater is back on track again--literally--once more plumbing the depths of his selective childhood memories. It’s about 1947 and Neddie Wentworthstein is enjoying the fruits of his father’s financial killing from cornering the wartime market in shoelaces. Yes, folks, the “Shoelace King” is taking his family and parakeets across country by train to resettle in Hollywood. Young Neddie, being of an inquisitive mindset, makes friends with Melvin the shaman in Albuquerque and misses the train in Flagstaff, where he is befriended by a swashbuckling actor and his son Seamus--not to mention Billy the Phantom Bellboy. The plot thickens when Sandor Eucalyptus tries stealing Neddie’s frog shaman-gift in an airplane over the Grand Canyon, and then…But you’ll have to tune in for yourself. As always, Pinkwater’s best moments are the surreal throwaways: the threat of torture by angry scorpions and tinned anchovies; the curing of a tree-hating bully through pseudo-psychoanalysis; stumbling across the first McDonald’s in the middle of the desert. And as always, it’s worth the price of admission for these mind games. That covers the adult readers. As for the kids? It’s good to have a new book to introduce a whole new generation to Pinkwater-mania. 2007, Houghton Mifflin, $16.00. Ages 10 to 14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2007 (Vol. 75, No. 7))
Pinkwater bills this tale of a lad who saves the post-WWII world from a sudden reversion to the Pleistocene Epoch as his best work yet. He's right—for about the first third. When his well-heeled family boards the Super Chief for an impulsive move from Chicago to Hollywood, Neddie experiences an America rich in marvels, from elegant Pullman Porters and fellow passengers with colorful (if, Ned suspects, fictive) pasts to stunning natural wonders. A stranding in Flagstaff only adds to the adventure, as he falls in with the son of a renowned movie star and gets a car ride the rest of the way to California. He also meets a shaman named Melvin who hands him a small carved turtle that must be kept safe. Ned's compelling sense of wonder and delight at each new sight or encounter positively propels his account of the cross-country journey along. But once he arrives in L.A., it begins to sputter, because aside from the odd and often surreal diversion, he and some new friends spend the next 200 pages essentially waiting around to find out just why that turtle is so important. Pinkwater is putting up a chapter a week on his website, and should be about halfway along to the mystical climax by the book's publication date. Even confirmed fans might want to stick with the online version, tune out for a month or so and then tune back in to see everyone receive just deserts. 2007, Houghton Mifflin, 320p, $16.00. Category: Fantasy. Ages 10 to 13. © 2007 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paula Rohrlick (KLIATT Review, March 2007 (Vol. 41, No. 2))
On a whim, Neddie Wentworthstein and his family move from Chicago to Los Angeles in the late 1940s. They take the Super Chief train across the country, and at a stop in Albuquerque Neddie is given a carved stone turtle by Melvin the shaman and told to guard it carefully. Left behind accidentally in Flagstaff, Neddie meets Seamus, the son of famous actor Aaron Finn, and also a friendly ghost named Billy. At the Grand Canyon, a sinister man named Sandor Eucalyptus tries to steal the turtle, but Neddie manages to hang on to it. Arriving in Los Angeles, Neddie enjoys exploring its wonders, from eating in “The Hat” to the La Brea Tar Pits (which of course translates to “the the tar tar pits,” as Neddie delightedly points out), and he enrolls in the same military school as Seamus, filled with the sons of movie stars and producers and also a nasty bully. But evil beings are still after the turtle, which has magical powers, and Neddie must use it to help avert a terrible calamity. The ending is a bit abrupt, but this amiable, old-fashioned adventure saga by the droll and prolific Pinkwater is a lot of fun to read, full of unexpected plot twists, LA atmosphere, and goofy names. Young readers may not get all the wordplay (e.g., the title, sound-alike Aaron Finn) but they’re sure to enjoy the ride. Category: Hardcover Fiction. KLIATT Codes: J--Recommended for junior high school students. 2007, Houghton Mifflin, 320p., $16.00. Ages 12 to 15.

Rita Cohen (Kutztown Book Review, Spring 2008)
A wonderful story, interweaving real facts and mythical fantasy. Neddie, our hero, learns many real facts and gives us a firsthand account of adventures that many people might have, like flying down into the Grand Canyon in a tour plane and eating in the Brown Derby restaurant. He also has some more fanciful experiences like his friendship with Billy the Phantom Bellboy, a ghost who he meets in Santa Fe and invites to travel to Los Angles with him. The exacting detail in which the 1950’s American environment is described lends such reality to Neddie’s quest of protecting the magic stone turtle given to him by an Indian shaman, and therefore civilization. For younger readers I would recommend this book as a read aloud. The short chapters make for easy breaks and it would be good to have someone point out how much in this book is verifiable and what comes from traditional myths and stories. Category: Fantasy. 2007, Houghton Mifflin. Ages 8 to 14.