The Pudding Problem
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A boy must untangle the web of lies he’s created in order to prove his innocence in this humorous and cheeky illustrated middle grade novel that’s perfect for “fans of Timmy Failure and Big Nate” (Kirkus Reviews).
Sam Lyttle is prone to stretching the truth. Most of his lies are harmless; tall tales and the product of an overactive imagination. So when Sam is summoned to explain a strange discovery—a ping-pong ball in a jar of peanut butter—and denies involvement, no one believes him. Then more seemingly unrelated peculiarities emerge, and Sam categorically denies any knowledge of those, too.
In between these mysterious accusations, and with evidence mounting against him, Sam ruminates on the different sorts of lies he has told using examples from his past. Meanwhile, two pounds of potatoes wind up in the washing machine.
Sam comes to a decision: he decides it is time to come clean about this latest tangled web. He gathers his family to hear the truth. The whole truth. Or is it? Could it be that this final “truth” is, in fact, another lie?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This madcap first book in the Lyttle Lies series opens with nine-year-old Sam Lyttle facing a big problem: legendary school bully Feeny. Sam has accidently crossed Feeny three times, and the narrative backtracks to tell the story of each run-in. In the first episode, Sam's surprisingly effective hypnosis skills make his classmates believe that everything they eat tastes like a cheeseburger, eventually leading Feeny to throw up that's strike one. In subsequent episodes, Sam steals Feeny's "foot-long super-salami meat feast" snack at school and rescues a cat being terrorized by Feeny and his dog. More havoc ensues after Sam persuades his family to take in the out-of-control cat, named Pudding, and Sam's reputation for being less than truthful ("I pick up my trusty Shovel of Lying and get digging") only compounds the chaos. In the vein of other heavily illustrated middle grade offerings, Berger (the Hubble Bubble series) devotes much space to comics-style sequences that amplify the story's many detours into gross-out gags and physical comedy. Ages 8 12.
