Marvin Plotnik and the Sandy Rivers Hilltop Ranch for Wayward Youth, Juveniles, and Young Adults

by D.S. Thornton

"You’re sending me to a boarding school?
A redundantly-named boarding school?”

Thus begins the adventures of ninth-grade graphic novelist and all-around-smart-aleck Marvin Plotnik. He’s just been told by Finger-Wagging Authority Figures they’ve had enough of his shenanigans, thank you very much. (Apparently, bowling balls and maple syrup do not make for a good experiment.) They are Sending Him Away For His Own Good they tell him, Initial-Caps and all, and in two days’ time he’s to board a bus bound for the Sandy Rivers Hilltop Ranch for Wayward Youth, Juveniles, and Young Adults — which is like four states and a really disagreeable bus ride away. Which turns out to be nothing because in no time at all the whole lopsided “ranch” is careening through space with Marvin and his fellow travelers destined for a fate so dastardly, so disgusting, so culinary, we can’t even hint at it without throwing up. Plus, the whole thing’s really hard to deal with considering that stupid time-loop business. And being strung upside down over a vat of Serubian Bog Oil (i.e., Seriously Uncomfortable). And having to listen to Barry Manilow. All of which, if you were to ask our young hero, gets really annoying (especially that hanging over the oil thing) because for the first time in young Marvin’s life, he’s totally fitting in. Now, if only he could hold back those pesky alien hordes...

332 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2012

About the author

D. S. Thornton makes her home in Southern California, paint brush in hand, or, sometimes, tapping away at the keyboard. She writes and illustrates middle-grade fantasy and silly sci-fi for young adults and up.

She loves botanical gardens, scifi, Doctor Who, and puppies.

Reviews

[David Haywood Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can probably see what you’re getting into, just from the title.

I read this book a few years ago, after the author said hello on Twitter (@D_S_Thornton) after I’d posted a story on my blog. I got curious, and added her book to my “maybe someday” list. I’m not sure how long it took me to get around to buying and reading the thing–months, at least–but I’m very glad I did. I still think about this one, from time to time, and chuckle.

Okay, here’s the thing. I liked Marvin. He reminded me, a bit, of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan character. Actively engaged with his environment, you know? Clever, creative, pushy, and fun to follow. And the plot was okay. I’ll admit that if you summarized the plot in a few sentences, it might seem sort of trite. But the main thing? The best part of this book? The footnotes!

I’ve never seen anyone else pull this off so well. This is a work of light, humorous fiction. How in the world did I start looking forward to the footnotes? The hundreds and hundreds of footnotes? Well, let me put it this way. Other reviewers (this book has a total of 5 reviews on Amazon US) have compared the author to Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams. The author seems to be okay with that, as it says something similar under “Editorial Reviews” on the book’s Amazon page. My opinion: it’s better than either of those.

Sound ridiculous? How can I say a book currently ranked “#2,229,542 Paid in Kindle Store” is better than anything by Pratchett and Adams? Because I’ve read it. I don’t think many people have, and it’s a damn shame. Maybe this one will always have a small audience. Maybe it takes a certain sort of mind to enjoy the thing. But for chrissake. It’s hilarious!

Incidentally, I tried posting a review on Amazon a while back…and the ‘Zon deleted it. I guess because I’m a competitor, or something. Some sort of cold, alien, wildly inefficient but nevertheless smug machine intelligence decided to help protect the world from my review. You guys feel safer now, right?

I’m going to post this review on Goodreads. Originally I didn’t plan to post my reviews anywhere but my blog, but that two-million-plus ranking pisses me off, and I want to do whatever I can to help people find and read this one. So okay, I’ll go post my previous reviews over there too. So far that site (though owned by Amazon) doesn’t seem to delete reviews by authors.

I see Ms. Thornton has another book out. The ebook version is set at the unfortunate price of $10.99, and it’s not linked to Marvin Plotnik via her Amazon author page. I assume there’s some sort of story behind that. The newer book is a middle-grade book with a few reviews, and is sitting at the one-million-plus level of Amazon rankings. I have stories in that same range, and it means nobody’s bought them for months. A shame.

Anyway, do yourself a favor and go read about Marvin Plotnik. He’s a good kid.

[Bahia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot Summary

Marvin isn’t your typical kid. In fact, he’s a real smart-ass. His antics finally force his parents to send him away – For His Own Good. That’s how he arrives at the Sandy Rivers Hilltop Ranch for Wayward Youths, Juveniles, and Young Adults, along with a bunch of other trouble making kids.

However, Marvin finds out pretty quickly that the ranch isn’t at all what it seems and it’s up to him and the friends – yes, friends for the first time in his life – to find out what’s going on and then get them out of what seems to be a hopeless predicament involving aliens, time-travel, and almost certain death.

Review

This isn’t a book for everyone, but if you enjoy some humor in with your science fiction then you are in for a treat from D. S. Thornton. In a similar stylistic-vein as Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams, this book is witty and at times laugh-out-loud funny. In many ways it is a coming of age story. Marvin goes from being an outcast and a misfit that no one understands to finding a place where he belongs, where he is not only understood, but also appreciated. I think people of any age can relate to that struggle to find your way, especially if you were one of those kids who didn’t exactly fit in.

I also generally enjoy sci-fi, particularly when the concepts involve space and time travel. I liked the way the book portrayed those concepts. The world of the book is easy to enter, mostly because it is just like our own at first. By the time the sci-fi elements come in, you’ve already gotten to know the characters and as they discover the reality of their situation so do you, easing you into it rather than plunging you into the universe.

As a writer I enjoyed the unique literary conventions the author plays with through the choice of the narrator and the excessive use of parenthetical interjections and massive footnotes. To some, following tangential footnotes might feel like an interruption, but to me they gave the book a unique flavor that made it stand out from other other YA fare. I always think it’s fun when authors experiment with technique and write playing with literary conventions. I read a lot, and I’ll read just about anything, so this variety is noticed and appreciated. Because of the footnotes, I think the book is better enjoyed using the print version, though the Kindle version does a fine job of getting you where you need to be and then back again. I enjoyed the unexpected choice of narrator, but I won’t give anything away. Perhaps you’ll figure it out sooner than I did.

All in all, I would recommend this book for lovers of sci-fi, humor, YA, and adventure. If you were a smart-ass kid you’ll probably enjoy it even more.

[D.S. Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I wrote this, that's what I think.