Intermediate. 4th grader Roscoe Wizzle starts eating from this one fast food place every night for dinner and starts turning into a bug, along with a few other kids who go missing. The mystery aspect of this book could be used as an opportunity for your students to practice their prediction skills. Also, if you want to talk about nutrition, this kind of made me want to avoid every eating fast good again!

Fantasy, Early Chapter Book
Review: A new favorite restaurant has come to town, and Roscoe Wizzle eats there every day for dinner. Shortly after, he is informed he is turning into a bug and must figure out why.
Critique: This is a good early chapter book because it has shorter, simpler sentences, but it introduces words children may not be familiar with and repeats them so they can learn what they look like and how to say them. ( )

Well-developed characters, a creative plot, short chapters and lots of interesting "big" words. ( )

Roscoe Wizzle was a normal eleven year old kid, until his parents didn't want to cook dinner anymore. His mom, Wilma, really only cooks one meal, tuna surprise. His father, Waldo Wizzle, prefers soft foods, like instant mashed potatoes, considering he works testing cymbals, and their crashing ability. After the Gussy's opened, Roscoe ends up eating there for six months straight, but is not the only kid to do so. Turns out, something funky is going on, because three kids have disappeared since it opened, and Roscoe is turning into a bug! He is transmogrifying! With the help of his best friend, Kinchy, the two adventure to figure out what is going on in Roseville...and it is not pleasant. ( )

This is a great example of a science fiction book. The story is based on human beings and the conflict is introduced very early in the story to keep the reader intrigued. It brings up the important question of Can we trust fast food places? and How often should we be eating at these establishments? because negative things happen to the boy in this story when he goes to a certain hamburger place too much. The point of view in this story is first person and it works well for this story because hearing Roscoe speak about it as he saw it makes the moments of conflict much more intense.

Level: Adolescent