Shelly's Book Blog

I enjoyed The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization, by Daniel Pinkwater, but it's a pretty strange book. The main character is a boy named Neddie Wentworthstein, whose father made a fortune selling shoelaces during WWII. A rather mysterious shaman named Melvin (only one of his names) gives Neddie a sacred stone turtle, which is supposed to help Neddie save the world. Before he has to be a hero, though, Neddie travels by train from Chicago to Los Angeles with his family, makes new friends, and lives a pretty normal life, except for making friends with a ghost and seeing a live mammoth at the circus where his friend's father works. Pinkwater slips in quite a bit of historical information about Los Angeles in the 1940s, and about turtles and tortoises. I think quirky is a good word to describe this book. I don't think it will be everyone's cup of tea, but for those who look for stories that are warm and funny but also a little bit strange, this is a perfect choice.