Leon and his miscreant buddies from the gifted pool are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore! Their favorite downtown coffee...
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Dec 19, 2008
Jennifer
rated it: 
Reviewed by Michaela Pallante aka "Mickey" for TeensReadToo.com
Leon and his friends have a problem.
Just as they are assigned to come up with a monument for their gifted pool group, they learn a terrible truth. Their favorite coffee shop, Sip, could be going out of business.
Sip has been struggling against its big corporate competitor, Wackfords, another coffee chain downtown, and it's quickly losing the battle.
Leon and his friends don't More...
Leon and his friends have a problem.
Just as they are assigned to come up with a monument for their gifted pool group, they learn a terrible truth. Their favorite coffee shop, Sip, could be going out of business.
Sip has been struggling against its big corporate competitor, Wackfords, another coffee chain downtown, and it's quickly losing the battle.
Leon and his friends don't More...
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Nov 16, 2011
Jackie
rated it: 
Lots of tongue-in-cheek, middle-school geeky humor is written all over the pages of Pirates of the Retail Wasteland. Leon and his other gifted-pool classmates are challenged to create a monument that has neglectfully been previously denied. In their wacky, stick-it-to-the-man sort-of way, the pool creates an (implied) monument to the slowly dying, beloved coffee shop, Sip. The corporate, cookie-cutter, glossy Wackford's Coffee House is overtaking the town of Cornersville Trace...and they aren't
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Jul 22, 2009
Book
rated it:
This is book two of a wonderful planned series that didn't get to become a series. It didn't sell enough copies, I guess. Didn't seem deserving of the P.R. push due possibly to lack of lusty emo vamps and/or classless upper-class gals. (And it doesn't help that the cover art looks like clip art in a second grade Phonics workbook from 1992.)
Nope, all you'll find here is a group of friends in eigth grade having some hi-jinks, making some memories, and fumbling through defining the thin More...
Nope, all you'll find here is a group of friends in eigth grade having some hi-jinks, making some memories, and fumbling through defining the thin More...
Jul 22, 2009
Brandon
rated it:
This is book two of a wonderful planned series that didn't get to become a series. It didn't sell enough copies, I guess. Didn't seem deserving of the P.R. push due possibly to lack of lusty emo vamps and/or classless upper-class gals. (And it doesn't help that the cover art looks like clip art in a second grade Phonics workbook from 1992.)
Nope, all you'll find here is a group of friends in eigth grade having some hi-jinks, making some memories, and fumbling through defining the thi More...
Nope, all you'll find here is a group of friends in eigth grade having some hi-jinks, making some memories, and fumbling through defining the thi More...
Sep 23, 2009
Jim
rated it: 
I really enjoyed How to Get Suspended and Influence People, so I was looking forward to the sequel. Unfortunately, I came away feeling rather disappointed. How to Get Suspended had bite to it; the satire was razor sharp and the jokes were laugh-out-loud funny in places. Pirates, on the other hand, while still a pleasant light read, feels like just another run-of-the-mill teen comedy. Leon and his friends are still good characters, and they do have their moments in this book. However, neither the
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Jul 26, 2009
Pam
rated it:
Fabulous book that makes you laugh out loud! Author Adam Selzer (www.adamselzer.com) really captures the mindset of 8th grade Leon, a gifted student planning a "pirate takeover" of the local chain coffee shop! At times very sarcastic and cynical, the book is extremely funny if you can relate to middle school angst sprinkled with occasional immaturity. The book feels fresh and contemporary. Unlike many YA books where parents are invisible or don't exist, Leon's parents are integral
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Dec 27, 2011
Kate
rated it: 
Leon and the G&T clan take on the stripmallification of their small-town suburb. Selzer's voice is less big than other YA voices (Levithan, Green, Tashjian) though just as humorous and at times this seems like a less-powerful echo of Rob Thomas's Rats Saw God for a slightly newer YA crowd, but it's a pretty decent read and probably more enjoyable for actual teen guy readers. Traditional YA tropes about weird parents and useless/annoying teachers.
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Jan 19, 2009
Swankivy
rated it:
I liked that Adam again nailed that whole "too smart for their own good" gifted pool culture (especially how the gym teacher was convinced it had to be one of them that was sending him depressing poetry), but even though I kinda thought the students were individually amusing, I didn't have much personal attachment to any of them. I was also kinda surprised that even the "BRING DOWN ALL THINGS CAPITALIST" Communist of the group didn't think it was a little tame to take over a
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Jul 28, 2011
The kind of book about smart-ass know it all teens that I would have loved as a smart-ass know it all teen. Fun humorous YA read.
May 20, 2010
Izowizo
rated it:
Imagine in your town, the local stores you have grown up with and love are being taken over by nation-wide fast food chain restaurants. That’s what Leon, the main character of Pirates of the Retail Wasteland, sees. In the book you’ll see how he battles the threat of his town’s take over while also battling his gym teacher, and admirer. What Leon has in his head will show you the steps through his crazy adventure.
What i like about this book is that it has a very big truth to it. Old places More...
What i like about this book is that it has a very big truth to it. Old places More...
Aug 02, 2010
Erin
rated it:
Sequel to How to Get Suspended and Influence People, although since it's not clear, I read this one first. Fun, humourous, somewhat informative about the problems with new big box stores but mostly one sided. Not didactic as while the plot is about protesting the stores, the author leaves the reader to decide.
May 23, 2008
Trina
rated it:
A group of highly intelligent middle school weirdos decide to take over a thinly disguised Starbucks and turn it into a business office that does not serve coffee in an attempt to save their favorite indie coffeehouse (Sips) from going out of business. If offered the opportunity, I'm almost positive my own weirdo students would do the same thing.
I'm not quite sure it's appropriate to a middle school audience (there's enough smoochy stuff that it makes me nervous), but it's absolutel More...
I'm not quite sure it's appropriate to a middle school audience (there's enough smoochy stuff that it makes me nervous), but it's absolutel More...
Jan 25, 2009
Heather
rated it:
I loved the premise, but the execution was not as great. Disappointing.
Jun 11, 2008
Meaghan
rated it:
I thought this was disappointing. I loved How to Get Suspended and Influence People but this sequel seemed like a watered-down repeat to me. It wasn't as funny or as well-plotted, and I found myself not really caring about their project or Leon's romantic woes. The book seemed to just peter out at the end.
Sep 04, 2008
Emily
rated it:
group of gifted 8th graders set out to fight against the new chain stores running the small town stores out of business. good anti-consumer message and nice to see such smart kids. a few curse words, but pretty tame.
Aug 20, 2008
Inge
rated it:
I can really appreciate a book that has gym teacher-themed parodies of "Howl".
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