Tween Tuesday: Mischief Manual

 Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at GreenBeanTeenQueen.  The purpose is "to highlight great reads for tweens!"

Edgar and Ellen Mischief Manual: An Expert's Guide to Planning, Perpetuating, and Plausibly Denying All Pranks great and small (But Mostly Great) by Charles Ogden 

New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2007

ISBN: 9781416939351

102 pages

4 out of 5

Calling all Pranksters!

Think you have what it takes to join Edgar and Ellen in their worldwide crusade against boredom?  Then maybe you're ready to study at the footies of the masters in their first official Mischief Manual.

Learn how to:

     - Recruit and train your own devious underlings! 

     - Navigate and prank in complete darkness! 

     - Build your very first catapult! 

     - Harness the mysterious power of confuseyism! 

     - And oh so much more!

Prove your mettle and earn your place in the elite League of Mischievists.

Only the most promising pranksters need apply.

This is a companion to the Edgar and Ellen series about mischievous twelve-year-old twins.  There used to be an interactive website and even a TV show, but it seems both are defunct now.   That's a little sad about the website, because the book instructs readers to visit the site.  I guess I'll never know for sure what type of mischief maker I really am, oh well.

In any case, this was a fun, short little book about ways to make mischief. What else?  The tone is nonchalant and humorous, though there are some large vocabulary words.  For me this makes it more fun and interesting, but it's something to be aware of when suggesting the book. 

Also, Edgar and Ellen take turns describing what it takes to be great mischief makers.  There are also some "handwritten" side notes from the characters when they feel they need to add something or even bicker, as siblings do.  Switching between the two and the side notes gives the book a conversational feel.

Finally the layout is wonderful.  It's very visual with shaded text boxes and appropriate images throughout.  The layout helps break up the reading which would appeal to those who might get bored or overwhelmed with solid pages of text.

This was an enjoyable read.  I'll definitely check out the series.