Hamish and the Gravity Burp by Danny Wallace

Hamish and the Gravity Burp by Danny Wallace
Buy Hamish and the Gravity Burp by Danny Wallace at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Louise Jones
Summary: Hamish and his gang race against time to save the world from alien invaders.
Buy? yes	Borrow? yes
Pages: 272	Date: March 2017
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781471147128
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BUUUUUURRRRRRRRPPPPP!

A terrifying noise is rumbling through the sleepy town of Starkley (the fourth most boring town in Britain) and having a peculiar effect on the residents. Gravity has gone into reverse and the poor townsfolk are floating skyward, helplessly trying to grab onto whatever they can in order to slow their ascent. Hamish Ellerby has just arrived home to find his family stuck to the ceiling, along with a bowl of fruit, six batteries and a wind-up meerkat. What could be causing this strange phenomenon? Could it be leading up to something bigger? A gravity-belch, or heaven forbid, a gravity-FART? It's up to Hamish and his gang, the PDF, to solve the mystery and restore order to Starkley in time for the official visit from the Public Office of Pride, or POP (shouldn't it be POOP?).

Hamish and the Gravity Burp is the latest book in Wallace's popular Hamish series about a boy and his friends trying to save the world from alien invasion. For some reason, his boring town seems to be a target for the aliens and in this book they are intensifying their efforts by reversing the town's gravity and spreading alien seeds. I'm not going to spoil the story by revealing what the seeds grow into, but the cover of the book may just give readers a few clues! Jamie Littler's fabulous artwork does not stop at the cover; there are engaging illustrations throughout the book and the bottom of each page creates a flip-art animation when the reader runs a thumb over it.

The story is fast-paced and intense, with never a dull moment. Our heroes are pitched from one crisis to the next, with a multitude of enemies in hot pursuit. There is plenty of daft, gross-out humour to keep young readers entertained, with plenty of snot, burps and bodily functions thrown in for good measure.

As a book reviewer, I came into the series at a slight disadvantage, not having read any of the previous books in the series, which is now well established, with its own fanbase. Although the book can be read as a standalone novel, and the author does his best to fill us in on previous events, the plot can be tricky to follow at times, as there are quite a lot of characters to get used to. The PDF gang members all merged into one and nobody really stood out, apart from Hamish, the protagonist and his feisty friend Alice, who was a bit of an action hero. I'd recommend that readers read the series in order to get the most enjoyment out of this book.

Many thanks to the publishers for my review copy, which made me smirk and giggle in all the right places, even though I'm over 40 and really should know better...

Bookbag also loved Hamish and the Worldstoppers by Danny Wallace; a wonderful combination of exciting and daft.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Hamish and the Gravity Burp by Danny Wallace at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Hamish and the Gravity Burp by Danny Wallace at Amazon.com.

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