I was reading What We Found in the Sofa and How It Saved the World, by Henry Clark, when some of the names started nibbling at me. The kids have stumbled over an abandoned sofa, in front of Old Mr. Underhill’s house. Two boys, River and Freak, and one girl, Fiona, are looking under the cushions, hoping for spare change, on a street called Bagshot Road, somewhere in Pennsylvania. The first chapter is called “An Unexpected Sofa.” A long time ago, I read The Hobbit, and the first chapter was “An Unexpected Party.” Then The Fellowship of the Ring started with “A Long-Expected Party.”
Sofa is a chapterbook in the Pine Bush Area Public Library about science gone awry, but there is this undercurrent from The Lord of the Rings. This is supposed to be a book for kids in Middle School, and yet I keep tripping over parts of Middle-Earth. Someone from outside our world is trying to take over with really serious mind control, and I keep giggling because there are more references to J.R.R. Tolkien.
This book is written on two levels, at least. There is the Adventure. Save the World! Defeat the dreaded Dislin who will take over people’s minds via their Dislin Cell Phones. Discover what the mysterious Indorsia is and why it must not be opened! (And then there are the ironic glances at The Lord of the Rings. Instead of “A Shortcut to Mushrooms,” there is “A Shortcut to Restrooms.” Instead of “Riddles in the Dark” in The Hobbit, there are “Riddles After Dark.”)
I’m having a hard time concentrating on the urgency of it all because I am laughing so hard. It’s not all about J.R.R. Tolkien but’s it’s still funny. The bad guys are sneaking up on Fiona’s house to break in and steal the precious green crayon. (No, I’m not kidding.) Fiona and the crayon are not there, but her little brother is there. Alone! Unprotected! If only he would make noise and then the bad guys would know there is Someone In The House!
Alf leaned over his desk and addressed the screen, dropping his voice down an octave. “This is the Department of Homeland Security. Do not turn off your computer. We are about to conduct a test of the emergency broadcasting system. The sound coming from your computer will rapidly increase in volume. Please cover your ears.”
Music started playing. “Isn’t that the French national anthem?” (The villains ran away.) The music stopped abruptly. Alf said, “This concludes our test of the emergency broadcast system. Had it been a real emergency, there would have been explosions.” Alf stops broadcasting to Fiona’s brother, and says to her, “They’ve probably already reported back.” “Reported what?” “Possibly that the crayon is in the hands of a very patriotic French family. Certainly that the first attempt to find it has failed.”
It just goes on from there. It’s supposed to be Action and Adventure, but it’s hysterical. Watch out for flash mobs in the school cafeteria, singing “Oklahoma!” and later, a ghost of a gramma, armed with a hatchet. She likes chasing our heroes all over the place. Turns out she’s a hologram called “Hologrammy.” Try this strange and wonderful book. Find out the Secret of
the Sofa, and Save the World.