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strangebehavior's review
Fun premise, just didn't know all the authors - I think it would be more fun if you were familiar with many of the writers.
missprint_'s review
2.0
What happens when the meanest, nastiest, smelliest editor invites all of his authors to a party at The Old Abandoned Pickle Factory? What happens when he threaten to reveal every one of their deepest, darkest secrets?
Well, the editor turns up dead is what happens.
And every author and illustrator is a suspect in his murder.
Jon Scieszka conducts the investigation as each author provides a brief alibi for the time of Herman Q. Mildew's death in Who Done It? (2013).
In addition to being a very entertaining premise, Who Done It? benefits a great cause. This "serial act of criminal literature" benefits 826nyc--a non-profit organization that supports kids' and teens' creative and expository writing.
With over 80 contributors suspects, there are a whole lot of alibis to sift through here. I don't recommend reading them all at once as they do tend to blend together. (Though averaging two pages each one is a short read.) The level of continuity between entries is also impressive as authors carry details throughout the collection.
There is a lot of fun to be had with this book whether you read it all at once or just peruse it for new and familiar authors.
My favorite entry is Patrick Carman's, bar none. But with a variety of formats (David Levithan's is a poem. Sarah Mlynowski and Courtney Sheinmel wrote a screenplay. And Lev Grossman's is a riff on fantasy conventions) and a few choice illustrations, Who Done It? is guaranteed to have something for everyone.
Well, the editor turns up dead is what happens.
And every author and illustrator is a suspect in his murder.
Jon Scieszka conducts the investigation as each author provides a brief alibi for the time of Herman Q. Mildew's death in Who Done It? (2013).
In addition to being a very entertaining premise, Who Done It? benefits a great cause. This "serial act of criminal literature" benefits 826nyc--a non-profit organization that supports kids' and teens' creative and expository writing.
With over 80 contributors suspects, there are a whole lot of alibis to sift through here. I don't recommend reading them all at once as they do tend to blend together. (Though averaging two pages each one is a short read.) The level of continuity between entries is also impressive as authors carry details throughout the collection.
There is a lot of fun to be had with this book whether you read it all at once or just peruse it for new and familiar authors.
My favorite entry is Patrick Carman's, bar none. But with a variety of formats (David Levithan's is a poem. Sarah Mlynowski and Courtney Sheinmel wrote a screenplay. And Lev Grossman's is a riff on fantasy conventions) and a few choice illustrations, Who Done It? is guaranteed to have something for everyone.
gabieowleyess's review
3.0
2.5/5 stars. I thought this would be a really fun quick read. Well, it was fun at the beginning, but then after a while it got REALLY repetitive. I was looking for a little more :P
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readinggod's review
4.0
Jon Scieszka has done it again. In this anthology Mr. Scieszka has gathered a group of fellow authors to help him solve the death of their not so beloved editor, Herman Mildew. One by one each guest presents their alibi and in some cases point out the actual culprit. The short stories range in tones from comedy to scary. Who is the real culprit and why did they take out Mr. Mildew? Read this book and find out as well as get in the minds of your favorite authors including Lemony Snicket, Libba Brey and John Green, just to name a few.
Cleverly written and thought out. Loved it.
Cleverly written and thought out. Loved it.
kallbri's review
4.0
Despite this literally taking me forever to read, it was very good. I loved getting snippets of different authors. I developed an interest in writers I have never heard of and authors that I intentionally avoided because they didn't seem like me. Though some of those alibis do get repetitive, hence why it took me so long, many were original and quite funny. In the end, I truly read the book because I am in love with the whole concept behind the tutoring centers such as 826NYC. Jon Scieszka linked it back to what the volunteers do with visitors to the center and how you can get great stories in a short amount of time, out of students and writers alike.
emmehuffman's review
5.0
The alibis were brief, making for a very quick read. The authors were all very interesting, especially the ones who digressed quite a bit. I loved the reference to Vlogbrothers in John Green's alibi (the puff). The one disappointment was very minor: Lemony Snicket did not say "a word which here means..." at any point like he did in the Series of Unfortunate Events. I like collections of short stories, especially when the stories not only share a common theme, but also build up to a single event (That's why I loved Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle, all of whom appear in this book). It gives a sense of cohesion and logic.
margaretann84's review
4.0
The concept is great--get a whole bunch of authors together to explain why they didn't kill a particularly nasty editor. However, with eighty different authors on the roster, each writing between 1-5 pages on why they didn't do it...well, by about 2/3s of the way through, I just wanted to be done with it.
That's not to say the authors or their alibis were bad; far from it. Most of the alibis were pretty funny, and all the voices were unique. There was some repetition, of course, but why wouldn't there be, with so many contributors? It just ran too long. Maybe fifty authors? But who to cull? I just know the book would have been about perfect at 250, maybe 275 pages. The joke would still have been fresh.
The stand-out pieces for me were:
Libba Bray
Gayle Forman
Lev Grossman
David Levithan
Barnabas Miller
Todd Strasser
Overall, I'd recommend the anthology, but if I were to use it in class, I'd pick and choose what I wanted to use as an example of how the book works.
That's not to say the authors or their alibis were bad; far from it. Most of the alibis were pretty funny, and all the voices were unique. There was some repetition, of course, but why wouldn't there be, with so many contributors? It just ran too long. Maybe fifty authors? But who to cull? I just know the book would have been about perfect at 250, maybe 275 pages. The joke would still have been fresh.
The stand-out pieces for me were:
Libba Bray
Gayle Forman
Lev Grossman
David Levithan
Barnabas Miller
Todd Strasser
Overall, I'd recommend the anthology, but if I were to use it in class, I'd pick and choose what I wanted to use as an example of how the book works.