The old powers try to come back, and the planet is plunged into chaos, and civilization is destroyed, and it gets all violent and evil...the old le...
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Jul 09, 2007
Meghan
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One of the things I really like about Pinkwater's books is that they lack an urgent plot - you never end up worrying too much about things working out, or the kid being in Mortal Peril. Instead you can enjoy the quirky details. What stands out about this book to me is that this non-urgency is brought to the foreground. The main character is entrusted with the care of a stone turtle that has been passed from shaman to shaman for a long time. The shaman that gives him the turtle is constantly rein
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Aug 03, 2011
I was able to conjure Daniel Pinkwater's fabulous voice over the weeks that I read this book aloud to my son - a voice like a kind uncle's - because I am so familiar with his years of NPR commentaries. The book itself is fabulous, and I mean that in both senses of the word. Pinkwater is a fabulous fabulist with an intact sense of childhood wonder and an appreciation for wild storytelling. He is Donald Barthelme for kids (if you are familiar with Barthelme, you may be put in mind of his story, "
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Oct 20, 2011
Pam
rated it: 
I picked this book up because I liked the cover (I am so superficial) and it mentioned the main character, Ned, takes a train journey and I love train journeys. I am glad I did it as it was a quirky read.
Ned is blessed with parents who are suitably affluent, but don’t’ flaunt it, eccentric and even more fortunately love him with some benign neglect. He is thus able to explore, go on an adventure and meet a wide range of characters, maybe just a few too many. A couple of times I had that More...
Ned is blessed with parents who are suitably affluent, but don’t’ flaunt it, eccentric and even more fortunately love him with some benign neglect. He is thus able to explore, go on an adventure and meet a wide range of characters, maybe just a few too many. A couple of times I had that More...
Mar 18, 2011
Jeanna
rated it: 
Oh, how to describe this novel. Have you ever heard my husband make up a story on the spot? It's a lot like that, only longer. It's pretty much silly, random, and meandering, but still in some strange way quite entertaining. While the book follows the standard plot arc (rising action, climax, denouement, blah blah blah), the rising action is really long. And not really rising. I think that's actually the defining characteristic of the weirdness of the book. Usually you expect rising action to ge
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Feb 06, 2011
Elinor
rated it:
OK, hopefully my review goes through this time. This was a fantastic read. I would recommend it for anyone looking for a light read who isn't to snotty to read a children's book, but also definitely to children!
This is a great book for reading to multiple ages simultaneously, since there is enough to keep everyone's attention, but nothing that would be too confusing for younger ones (I'm thinking best for ages 6 to 12). Also, the chapters are super short, like two or three pages, More...
This is a great book for reading to multiple ages simultaneously, since there is enough to keep everyone's attention, but nothing that would be too confusing for younger ones (I'm thinking best for ages 6 to 12). Also, the chapters are super short, like two or three pages, More...
Dec 30, 2010
Karissa
rated it:
I had no idea what to expect from this book, but with a subtitle of "How Neddie took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization", how can you go wrong? I actually saw the sequel to this book "The Yggyssey" and it peaked my interest, so I got the first book from the library and read it. This was an absolutely wonderful book. I don't know why I haven't heard of Pinkwater before. Oddly enough after I read this book Gaiman mentioned Pinkwater as one of his favorite writ
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Jul 16, 2010
Kelly
rated it:
This book was amazing and totally deserving of the blurb that Neil Gaiman gave it- "What Pinkwater does is Magic".
On a train trip, Neddie gets separated from his loving and odd family, meets a Navajo Shaman named Melvin and is given a turtle carving. He becomes the boy with the turtle, the hero who must save the world. Neddie meets new friends like a ghostie bellhop and a lonely actor's son and together they make some mistakes and learn how to keep on keeping on, and possib More...
On a train trip, Neddie gets separated from his loving and odd family, meets a Navajo Shaman named Melvin and is given a turtle carving. He becomes the boy with the turtle, the hero who must save the world. Neddie meets new friends like a ghostie bellhop and a lonely actor's son and together they make some mistakes and learn how to keep on keeping on, and possib More...
Jan 10, 2010
Sara
rated it:
This book caught my eye because of the blurb by Neil Gaiman on the cover. When I started reading it, however, the beginning was confusing, weird, and felt like it was trying too hard to be clever, and I nearly gave up. However, after a few chapters passed, the story picked up, having settled into a nice flow, and I was able to enjoy it.
The Neddiad is the story of Neddie, a young kid in the 1940's who moves to Los Angeles with his family and, along the way, is given a stone turtle t More...
The Neddiad is the story of Neddie, a young kid in the 1940's who moves to Los Angeles with his family and, along the way, is given a stone turtle t More...
Jun 28, 2009
Elizabeth
rated it:
Oh, Daniel Pinkwater, I love you so. I would totally run away with you (in a chaste way) to go live on an island populated by reptiles. I think if anyone else tried to do what he does with his wacky plots, it would come off as contrived and trying too hard and gimmicky. Somehow his books end up great. While going from Chicago to LA on the Super Chief in the 1940s, Neddie Wentworthstein is given a small turtle by a Navajo shaman that starts him off on a series of strange adventures involving Holl
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Apr 06, 2009
Joedegeorge
rated it:
THIS IS A GOOD KIDZ BOOK. 3.5 STARZ out of 5.
This book is narrated by an elementary school aged boy of post WWII USA. Ned tells the story of his family's impulse move from Chicago to Los Angeles, the exciting world of LA where buildings can be shaped like giant hats or doughnuts or other things, and how he is destined to save the world from an ancient dark devolutionary Kronos-type chaos.
Although the impending doom of civilization is the suspense tool that keeps you r More...
Jul 13, 2010
Heather
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 29, 2011
Mike
rated it:
I love Daniel Pinkwater's children's books, particularly the Bad Bears titles (who can't love two blueberry-muffin stealing polar bears called Irving and Muktuk?) so I was intrigued by this novel-length adventure... it didn't disappoint. This is magically realistic urban fantasy told with Pinkwater's trademark oddness and charm. This tale treads some of the same ground as Neil Gaiman's American Gods and even Stephen King's Dark Tower series. Pinkwater's sparse prose perfectly captures our you
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Aug 17, 2009
Raina
rated it:
TBCD
What a strange book. It felt like a combination of the classic "Growing up in the early 20th century" memoir, an episodic adventure-roadtrip story, and Runaways. This kid comes from an eccentric family (shoelace entrepreneurs), who is moving from Chicago to LA. Along the way, he meets a ghost, becomes stranded from his family, starts a road trip with a movie star, sees the grand canyon, and procures a turtle, which turns out to be the key to the world's status quo survival More...
What a strange book. It felt like a combination of the classic "Growing up in the early 20th century" memoir, an episodic adventure-roadtrip story, and Runaways. This kid comes from an eccentric family (shoelace entrepreneurs), who is moving from Chicago to LA. Along the way, he meets a ghost, becomes stranded from his family, starts a road trip with a movie star, sees the grand canyon, and procures a turtle, which turns out to be the key to the world's status quo survival More...
Jan 05, 2010
Mary
rated it:
In 79 mostly very short chapters, Neddie Wentworthstein travels from his Chicago home to his new home in Los Angeles. He starts out on a train (the Super Chief) with his father the Shoelace magnate, his mother, his sister Eloise, and their flock of pet parakeets. When he gets left behind in Flagstaff, he makes the rest of the trip with actor Aaron finn, his son Seamus Finn - Neddie's new best friend - and Billy the Phantom Bellboy. On the journey, Neddie meets a shaman who gives him a small turt
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Jun 21, 2010
Jenne
rated it:
For the first third or so, I was really excited, because it seemed like this might be on par with some of his early books like Lizard Music or my beloved The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, but
a) it never got quite weird enough
b) it felt like he kept picking up and dropping minor characters
c) what the hell was that ending?
Still, the parts describing LA in the 40s were pretty rad, and as always he describes the food in a way that makes you want to go out in More...
a) it never got quite weird enough
b) it felt like he kept picking up and dropping minor characters
c) what the hell was that ending?
Still, the parts describing LA in the 40s were pretty rad, and as always he describes the food in a way that makes you want to go out in More...
Jul 01, 2009
Kris
rated it:
Neil Gaiman said it best, calling Daniel Pinkwater “A delight in oddness.” Pinkwater is the author of one of my favorite children’s books, Lizard Music. The Neddiad, How Neddie Took The Train, Went To Hollywood, And Saved Civilization is just as strange and wonderful! Neddie’s father is the wealthy shoe string king. His family decides to up and move to Hollywood, taking the famed train Super Chief, to get there. When the family stops at a Native American gift shop in New Mexico, Neddie is g
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Sep 09, 2009
Michael
rated it:
Pinkwater writes fiction for young adults and I cut my teeth on him as a child. I attribute much of my current taste in reading to his weird ideas. How can you not like a book entitled "The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death." Anywhoo I gave this book 3 stars because it is intended for a 12 to 13 year old. My inner teen gave it 4 but he doesn't have a goodreads account. If you want to know what I find to be magical about Pinkwater just read the premise of this book that I copied fr
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Apr 22, 2009
Mary
rated it:
This book is part tall tale, part epic quest, part legend or myth - really hard to define. As Ned and his family are heading to L.A. to relocate (on the Super Chief luxury train), Ned is given a stone turtle by a Native American shaman who informs him that the fate of the planet revolves around this turtle, so Ned must guard it with his life. There's a lot going on in this book: depictions of life in America in the late 1940s, tidbits about the turtle's role in creation myths, descriptions of th
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Mar 22, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Subtitle: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization.
This is a little bit of a roadtrip book, only it's on a train. It's a little bit of a friendship story, but the friends range from 10-year-olds to a shaman and a swashbuckling movie star. It's a little bit of a heroic fantasy, only it's set in Chicago, Los Angeles, and points in between. Neddie and his family take the train as they move to LA. On the way, he is given a small stone turtle by a Shaman named M More...
This is a little bit of a roadtrip book, only it's on a train. It's a little bit of a friendship story, but the friends range from 10-year-olds to a shaman and a swashbuckling movie star. It's a little bit of a heroic fantasy, only it's set in Chicago, Los Angeles, and points in between. Neddie and his family take the train as they move to LA. On the way, he is given a small stone turtle by a Shaman named M More...
Aug 12, 2011
David
rated it:
Really great young adult novel. We had the added benefit of experiencing this as an audiobook read by the author, which in my view is key to getting the whole experience. Pinkwater's delivery has a kind of matter-of-fact tone that suits his eleven (yes? I think so) year old protagonist and his friends. Also, he makes no effort whatever to make up different voices for the different characters, and you have no trouble following along.
That's all on the audiobook though. If you just read t More...
That's all on the audiobook though. If you just read t More...
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Jun 20, 2009
Suzy
rated it:
Daniel Pinkwater is a comic genius! In this book, Pinkwater takes the epic quest/hero's journey fantasy and turns it on its ear. It is the early fifties and Neddie Wentworthstein is moving with his family to Los Angeles. On the way he meets a shaman named Melvin, who gives him a small stone turtle, telling him not to lose it. Neddie, of course, has many adventures and encounters both friends and foes, before he is able to complete his quest. I can hardly wait to read the companion book, The Yggy
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Jun 24, 2011
Eddie Louise
rated it:
Wow!
Pinkwater is a genius. His voice is full of whimsy and wonder.
I don't believe there was a single page of this book that did not illicit at least one laugh-out-loud moment - most had several. Best of all, the comedy is not distracting from a deep sense of magic and meaning to the world. This book should be a prescription for people who are suffering from depression; it is a formula for engaged, reverent and joyful living.
Not only will this book be added to my perman More...
Pinkwater is a genius. His voice is full of whimsy and wonder.
I don't believe there was a single page of this book that did not illicit at least one laugh-out-loud moment - most had several. Best of all, the comedy is not distracting from a deep sense of magic and meaning to the world. This book should be a prescription for people who are suffering from depression; it is a formula for engaged, reverent and joyful living.
Not only will this book be added to my perman More...
May 09, 2011
Steph
rated it:
I was excited to get this book at our school's book sale because i love Pinkwater's 'Borgel' and 'Hoboken Chicken Emergency'. Neddiad started off great; it was funny and clever and the characters were interesting. I loved the first 3/4 of the book because of the buildup to he climax, but the climax was disappointing- literally it was maybe 2 chapters that were much less detailed than the rest of the book, and honestly didn't make a lot of sense, just a kind of deus ex machina ending. While the t
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Dec 14, 2010
The Neddiad
By, Daniel Pinkwater
Page: 307
Genre: Realistic Fiction and Adventure
“’ Hundreds of people come in and out of here, and not many catch on. Here. Take this.’”
“He took something out of his pocket and put it in my hand. It was a little turtle carved out of stone.” Neddie’s life right then and there just changed from a small town Chicago boy, to a typical Los Angeles teenager.
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By, Daniel Pinkwater
Page: 307
Genre: Realistic Fiction and Adventure
“’ Hundreds of people come in and out of here, and not many catch on. Here. Take this.’”
“He took something out of his pocket and put it in my hand. It was a little turtle carved out of stone.” Neddie’s life right then and there just changed from a small town Chicago boy, to a typical Los Angeles teenager.
More...
Apr 23, 2011
Katterley
rated it:
The shaman bugged me, he was vague and irritating, and I understood it for his character, but I've known people like that in real life and I find them vague and irritating, too. Which means the characterizations in the book were great. I think this book is a great read for some reluctant reader boys, although they'd have to be into the fantasy genre a bit to like it, yet I don't really want to label this a fantasy book, it's more adventure than anything. And then there's the science stuff, too..
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May 25, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
The Neddiad by Daniel Pinkwater is the first book of what's now a three book series. In my usual fashion of finding the second book first, I actually learned about the series via The Yggssey (review coming). This time though I learned from experience and found the first book and started from the beginning of the series.
Ned, the titular character, is the son of the shoelace king. On a whim they decide to move from Chicago to Hollywood. They leave by train and that's where the weirdnes More...
Ned, the titular character, is the son of the shoelace king. On a whim they decide to move from Chicago to Hollywood. They leave by train and that's where the weirdnes More...
Jun 19, 2010
Jeff
rated it:
Another solid effort from Daniel Pinkwater that contains the usual assortment of eccentric people and places and the same sort of meandering plotlessness that might be annoying in the hands of another author. Daniel Pinkwater manages to get in a lot of really interesting information about ancient animals, native American tribes, old Hollywood, the circus, and a few other things (some of which is probably inaccurate or entirely made up) but other than covering the Western half of the country mor
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Nov 22, 2011
Rebecca
rated it:
I vacillate between three and four stars for this quirky, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-for-American-Children, chapter book. I found myself snickering at the subtle sarcasm and Woody Allen-esque dialogue, but wondered a few times if the silliness was inanity.
I looked for accuracy in the historical 1940s Americana references, I looked for meaning behind the names which felt like anagrams, and I was desperately trying to figure out who it was that Neddie shouldn't be trusting in all More...
I looked for accuracy in the historical 1940s Americana references, I looked for meaning behind the names which felt like anagrams, and I was desperately trying to figure out who it was that Neddie shouldn't be trusting in all More...
Nov 28, 2008
Agathafrye
rated it:
I highly recommend listening to this audiobook in the mornings while you shower. It takes a while to finish, but the satisfaction is worth the wait. My daughter doesn't like Pinkwater's voice (he sounds fat, she says), but I find it rather comforting. This is classic absurd Pinkwater: a young boy, his family, and their many canaries move from Chicago to Hollywood on a luxury train to pursue a dream of eating at the Brown Derby every day. He meets a shaman named Melvin, who gives him a tiny s
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