Crazy in Poughkeepsie

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Age range 6 to 9

Mick is a good kid, but maybe he can use just a little guidance. But its unclear who will be guiding whom, because Micks brother came home from Tibet with the self-proclaimed Guru Lumpo Smythe-Finkel and his dog Lhasaand then promptly settled both of them in Micks bedroom.

The thing about this kind of guru is that he doesnt seem to know exactly what hes trying to do. He sure does seem to be hungry, though.

So Mick agrees to something like a quest, roaming the suburbs with the oddest group of misfits: Lumpo and Lhasa; graffiti-fanatic Verne; and Vernes unusual friend Molly. Molly is a Dwergish girldont worry if you dont know what that is yetand she seems to be going off the rails a bit.

Along the way, the gang will get invited to a rollicking ghost party, consult a very strange little king, and actually discover the truth about Heaven. Or a version of the truth anyway, because in a Daniel Pinkwater tale, the truth is never the slightest bit like what youre expecting.

The inimitable Daniel Pinkwater (The Hoboken Chicken Emergency) brings his zany wit and wisdom to a gentle middle-grade adventure following a kids off-the-beaten-path journey, featuring an unfocused spiritual guide, a not-quite-dwarf, a graffiti 'artist,' a ghost whale, and mystical shenanigans galore.

'Crazy in Poughkeepsie is a ludicrous romp reminiscent of the Muppets! This is a book that will make you laugh, grin, and maybe look for more whimsy in your own world.' Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger

'A magic thats not like anyone elses.' Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods

Reviews

Antick Musings Best Books of 2022

"Molly, a previously met character belonging to a secretive people (which 'rhymes, ' the author hints, 'with schmeprekon') joins reluctant young narrator Mick and a motley group of fellow travelers in a tricked-out 1958 Buick convertible, complete with built-in toaster, to deliver a ghostly cetacean to the "whaley pearly gates," also known as Whalhalla, Mount Whalympus, or Flukes of Glory. Naturally, there are many surreal encounters along the way, but bombinating (look it up) as they "stooge along," guided by a surprisingly knowledgeable dog, the intrepid road trippers complete their mission, only to be rewarded by being all-too-briefly drawn in to the mystical, whirling dance of the massed whale spirits. Renier's intermittent spot art provides an added visual element, and the climactic experience is likely to affect readers as deeply as it does Mick and his compatriots, making an unexpectedly lovely capper for this typically, and distinctively, daffy journey."
--Booklist

"Crazy in Poughkeepsie is a ludicrous romp reminiscent of the Muppets! Weirdness is positive, wonderful, and everywhere in Pinkwater's writing. This is a book that will make you laugh, grin, and maybe look for more whimsy in your own world."
--Beth Cato, author of The Clockwork Dagger

"The Pinkwaterverse is a place of delight and camaraderie, wordplay and weirdness, magic and epic sojourns. Each Pinkwater novel is a novelty and unmistakably part of his vast literary legacy. Crazy in Poughkeepsie is a trip to whale heaven, an afterlife that we can all aspire to."
--Cory Doctorow, bestselling author of Little Brother

"Mick returns home from summer camp to find 'a little old man' named Guru Lumpu Smythe-Finkel occupying his bedroom in Pinkwater's (Adventures of a Dwergish Girl) jovial novel. Though Mick's older brother Maurice brought Lumpu and his dog Lhasa home from his trip to the Himalayas, the guru takes Mick on as his apprentice. During their daily hikes, Lumpu--who insists that destiny led him to Poughkeepsie, N.Y.--teaches Mick to appreciate the innate oddness of his hometown. The pair are joined by Vern, Mick's environmental activist friend from summer camp, and Molly, a new arrival from the Catskill Mountains who describes herself as 'crazy... I'm not myself.' After encountering a ghost whale named Luna, the group embarks on a quest to guide the cetacean to her final resting place at the "whaley pearly gates." . . . . This caper offers comical adventure, and Renier's b&w illustrations exude classic comic strip aesthetics, admirably complementing Pinkwater's straightforwardly told absurdist humor.
--Publishers Weekly

"Daniel Pinkwater's new novel is a magical 'bombination, ' which is to say a slow hum that starts soft and then wraps around you with snappy wit and ghostly music that makes you dance. It's a hum that gathers all together-short, tall, odd, activist, artist, teen and guru-until you realise that you're at the party of your life."
--Jewelle Gomez, author of the Gilda Stories

"Opening the pages of Crazy in Poughkeepsie was like buying a ticket back to the all the weirdness and wonder of being a kid. I'm pretty sure we passed the Phantom Tollbooth during the road trip!"
--Jacqueline Carey, author of Starless

"A very clever and funny story that will keep middle graders, even reluctant readers, fully engaged and turning pages right through to the end. The characters are fully formed and fascinating. The story is very compelling and the writing is superb, with snappy dialogue and excellent description."
--Seattle Book Review

"By the time it's over, Crazy in Poughkeepsie turns into a remarkably sweet-natured mystical fantasy about helping a beloved ghost whale find its way to whale heaven. But throughout, it remains a characteristic Pinkwater tale of unexpected turns, hilarious sidebars, and above all a celebration of the outsider--or at least of the quirks and obsessions that make us all outsiders at one time or another. And, as always, it's wickedly funny."
--Locus

"A light-hearted romp filled with wonders including ghosts, gurus, and gold told in classic Pinkwater style. . . . Pinkwater manages to skewer and humanize lofty ideas of what it means to be a mystic, what it means to be an outsider, and what it means to follow an adventure no matter where it might take you with humor and absurdity that we could all use right now."
--Kendra Preston Leonard, author of Protectress

"Crazy in Poughkeepsie will delight his longtime addicts and provide a funny introduction to his world for anyone stumbling upon him for the first time. The short novel aimed at kids plays like a Pinkwater greatest-hits album."
--Book & Film Globe

"Pinkwater's in on a great secret: if you want to communicate wisdom to young readers, first make them smile. Or giggle. Or run wild in Poughkeepsie, as the case may be."
--Deborah J. Ross, author of The Seven-Petaled Shield

"This book is short, sweet, ridiculous, and hilarious with a modern take on 'Save the Planet.' Rarely does a book make me actually laugh out loud but this one did in several places."
--Lucy's Kids Blog

"This is a wonderfully weird story. The absurd moments flow effortlessly from one to the next. As always, I'll note that seemingly effortless moments obviously are the result of effort, skill, and talent."
--The Irresponsible Reader

"A wonderfully silly and delightful adventure."
--The Nameless Zine

Praise for Daniel Pinkwater

"Daniel Pinkwater is so obviously the funniest writer of children's books that he should be made a Living National Treasure."
--Washington Post Book World

"Pinkwater is the uniquest. And so are his books. Each uniquer than the last . . . A delight in oddness. A magic that's not like anyone else's."
--Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods

"Daniel Pinkwater helped to shape me as a storyteller and his books have delighted generations of young readers. We're so lucky to have him as a guide to all the realms of the beautifully weird and whimsical."
--Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky

"No author has ever captured the great fun of being weird, growing up as a happy mutant, unfettered by convention, as well as Pinkwater has."
--Boing Boing

"Pinkwater writes for, and about, people who are not ashamed to look at life a little differently."
--Kathy Ceceri, Wired

"Pinkwater is arguably Pratchett-for-kids, Wodehouse-for-new-millennium-juniors. Or, if you like, Rocky and Bullwinkle in written form, with equally zany illustrations."
--Green Man Review

"Reading Daniel Pinkwater--as a kid and as an adult was hugely important to my development as a writer and a human being. Meeting another Pinkwater fan is always a sign that you are among good people."
--Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother

"Daniel Pinkwater has that rare sense of wonder that makes you feel as if you have entered into a magical kingdom.
--Joe R. Lansdale, author of Of Mice and Minestrone

5/5 stars. "All I can say this book is totally bonkers sometimes I was beginning to wonder what am I reading but you know what it made me laugh out loud."
--Nutty Bookworm

Praise for Adventures of a Dwergish Girl

"Captivating, cool and crazy! This story is an inspiration to us all: Be brave. Have adventures. And, most importantly, follow your dreams."
--Sam Lloyd, author of Mr. Pusskins

"Zany characters and a heroine with a taste for adventure fill the pages of this charming middle grade novel."
--Alane Adams, author of the Legends of Orkney series

"A Pinkwater whirlwind in all its glory."
--Booklist

"Richly-drawn, quirky, and mysterious, Daniel Pinkwater's Adventures of a Dwergish Girl pulls readers into a dazzling adventure."
--Susan Vaught, author of Footer Davis Probably Is Crazy

Author Bio

Daniel Pinkwater is the author and sometimes illustrator of over eighty (and counting) wildly popular books, including The Neddiad, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, Borgel, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. He has also illustrated many of his own books, although for more recent works that task has passed to his wife, illustrator and novelist Jill Pinkwater. Pinkwater is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio's All Things Considered and appears regularly on Weekend Edition Saturday, where he reviews kids' books with host Scott Simon. Pinkwater also contributes to Wondertime, and has in the past been spotted on the pages of the New York Times Magazine, OMNI, and many other publications.

Pinkwater lives with his wife and several dogs and cats in a very old farmhouse in New York's Hudson River.

Aaron Renier (Illustrator) is the author of three graphic novels for younger readers; Spiral-Bound, Walker Bean, and Walker Bean and the Knights of the Waxing Moon. He is the recipient of the Eisner award in 2006 for talent deserving of wider recognition, and was an inaugural resident for the Sendak Fellowship in 2010. He teaches drawing and comics at universities in Chicago.