The World of Norm: 10: Includes Delivery by Jonathan Meres
| The World of Norm: 10: Includes Delivery by Jonathan Meres | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: Perfectly fun read for the reluctant audience, but coming with a slight whiff of filler. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 288 | Date: May 2016 |
| Publisher: Orchard Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781408341933 | |
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that while kids' series generally start by covering a whole term time or even a school year, by the time it's worked out that more books are called for all the following volumes will concern less and less ground. This is a case in point – it being book TEN in this series means it's just regarding two flipping days. That way Norm can carry on having adventures without ageing, with little in the way of consequence that people reading future books before seeing this one will have missed out on. In lesser hands, it generally means the author can churn out a whole book without much forethought or providing much content. Luckily this series isn't usual, and the author here generally is better than the routine.
And certainly, Norm's life is nothing like routine. Here he is making a new friend by dint of trying to enter the wrong house, not noticing he's on the wrong street. (She's not strictly new, either – if he'd ever looked up in geography he'd have seen her, but that would be beyond him.) Here he is rattling his father's cage once more – but once more not noticing. Here he is hearing a phrase such as 'rattling one's cage' and taking it literally, trying to figure it out in a cartoonish manner in his head and not working out its significance. Nothing is of significance to Norm except the manner he finds himself (two younger brothers, family forced to downsize both house size and grocery budget), the apparent idiocy of everyone he interacts with, and biking.
Said idiocy this time includes his best mate being interested in something mysterious, and his parents being invited to a salsa dance – and said new friend inviting him to untold unknowns. Which is a little awkward when it's all in a weekend. There should be more here. There was scope to have it play out over a longer period – Norm not noticing his best mate's mystique over a more realistic (for Norm) timeframe. Truncating the three different things – new girl's surprise, parents' embarrassment and the pal's distraction mean they marry up so bleeding obviously into one and the same. There is not enough depth to the plot. Chekhov's gun is a rule that means everything in a drama must be used if it's worth mentioning in the first place, but that doesn't mean coming back to it immediately.
Still, immediacy is to the fore here, once again. These books are ideal for the reluctant reader – while the parent sampling this will be done in an hour, the very fact the novice can still turn these pages two-to-a-minute would only give them satisfaction. The cartoonish illustrations, bringing the absurdity the very obtuse mind of Norm sees to literal life on the page, are once again great, and the way the narrative style gets about half a dozen words into a very stressed bold per page and gets away with it is still quite clever. And the use of Gordon flipping Bennet as a child-friendly oath is only to be encouraged (unless your name is Nora and you feel left out).
So while this is reasonably dramatic, still a seriously funny way for the right audience to laugh at a loveable dolt, and full of wry character, I did feel like it was a little less essential than it might have been. I can't say how much future books will refer to the goings-on here, so I won't say it's the crux around which everything to come hangs. Nor does it seem entirely throwaway, and again it is worthwhile for the target reader, but I think the smart child reading this will agree with me that it lacks something a little more substantial. They will definitely be back on board for more, however, as will I – but we'll all be hoping for more significance next time.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
I have a feeling that Norm and Big Nate would get along together very well.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The World of Norm: 10: Includes Delivery by Jonathan Meres 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 The World of Norm: 10: Includes Delivery by Jonathan Meres at Amazon.com.
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