Fuzzy Mud

by Louis Sachar

If you go down to the woods today ... Well, every child knows NOT to, don’t they?

Tamaya is on a scholarship to the prestigious Woodridge Academy and every day she and seventh-grader Marshall walk to school together. They never go through the woods. And when they arrive at school they stop talking to each other – because Marshall can’t be seen to be friends with a little kid like Tamaya. Especially not with Chad around. Chad-the-bully, who makes Marshall’s life utterly miserable. But today, hoping to avoid Chad, Marshall and Tamaya decide to go through the woods ... And what is waiting there for them is strange, sinister and entirely unexpected.

The next day, Chad doesn't turn up at school – no one knows where he is, not even his family. And Tamaya's arm is covered in a horribly, burning, itchy wound. As two unlikely heroes set out to rescue their bully, the town is about to be turned upside down by the mysterious Fuzzy Mud ...

A funny, sinister and thought-provoking comic thriller from the multimillion-copy selling author of Holes and There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom.

• ISBN10: 1408864746
• ISBN13: 9781408864746
• Publish Date: 6 August 2015 (first published 4 August 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 10 March 2017
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
• Imprint: Bloomsbury Childrens Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kelly]

Not bad, but not great either. The pacing felt disorganised and the storyline lacked both direction and personality. Sadly, I'm not sure the intended middle grade audience would fare any better either.

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/09/fuzzy-mud-by-louis-sachar.html

Having not read the authors previous work in Holes, I still expected an incredible middle grade read, but it felt disorganised and fell flat sadly. It follows the storyline of Tamaya and Marshall, neighbours who walk to school together each day but wouldn't consider one another a friend. Both are great kids, buck lack any real character depth beyond a brief background. To avoid a bully, the two companions decide to take a short cut home, despite numerous warnings to avoid the woods at all cost. It's there where a silent threat lies in wait. Microorganisms who are spreading throughout the environment, called Fuzzy Mud for their appearance. The storyline switches back and forth between Tamaya and Marshall, and the senate inquiry into the disastrous accident after the event.

Despite the eccentric creator, the inquiry was an over detailed and often difficult to understand scientific discovery. A new fuel was being forged using microorganisms that have somehow escaped into our environment and mutated. The concept just seems far too complex for the middle grade intended audience. The creator in Jonathan Fitzman spends the majority of the book denying that the mutation of the cells is possible, flailing his arms about as he speaks to a senate inquiry. He was completely out of place within the storyline and as a tool used to inject humour into a flat storyline, sadly it didn't succeed.

I love middle grade as a whole and even with it's somewhat muddled environmental message, Fuzzy Mud is a quick read that will no doubt somewhat entertain it's target audience. I needed to be able to connect and sadly there was nothing that I could hold onto to form that attachment.

Clearly I've missed the bigger picture with Fuzzy Mud and the hype surrounding Louis Sachar. I felt as though I was being told half a story. It had potential but lacked any real depth, just confusion.

[meowstina]

I received an advance reader’s copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book not only explores a dangerous bacteria in the mud, it also quite nicely looks at personal values and strength. Tamaya is a shy but strong girl with steadfast morals. Marshall struggles with doing the right thing, especially if it attracts attention, because he is cruelly bullied by Chad, who has his own issues. All three of them get involved in a scary and life-changing adventure that takes place in the forest next to their school. Chapters alternate between them and an investigation into a new bacteria, each building to create suspense. I think the themes and adventure are well done, but it could have been delved into further. It felt as if the action ends as soon as it reaches the climax, and then the conclusion is drawn out. I did enjoy this book, though, and though it’s not Sachar’s strongest, it’s still good.