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It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit #1
It's The End of the World and I'm In My Bathing Suit
A hilarious new middle-grade from Justin A. Reynolds that What happens when five unsupervised kids face the apocalypseunder outrageously silly circumstances?
Twelve-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway has concocted his most genius plan ever to avoid chores... especially the dreaded L-A-UN-D-R-Y. If he can wear all the clothes he owns, he'll only have to do the laundry once during his school break.
On the day of the highly anticipated Beach Bash, Eddie's monstrous pile of dirty laundry is found by his mom. And Eddie's day has just taken a turn for the worst. Now he's stuck at home by himself, missing the bash, and doing his whole pile of laundry. But midcycle, the power goes out!
With his first load of laundry wet and the rest of his stuff still filthy, he sets out to explore the seemingly empty neighborhood in his glow-in-the-dark swim trunks, flip-flops, and a beach towel. He soon meets up with other neighborhood newcomer Xavier (who was mid-haircut and has half his head shaved), Eddie's former friend Sonia (who has spent her entire break trying to beat a video game and was mid-battle with the final boss), and siblings Trey and Sage (who are dealing with major sibling drama).
As they group up to cover more ground and find out what happened, they realize that their families aren't coming back anytime soon. And as night falls, the crew realizes that they aren't just the only people left in the neighborhood, they might be the only people left... anywhere.
Twelve-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway has concocted his most genius plan ever to avoid chores... especially the dreaded L-A-UN-D-R-Y. If he can wear all the clothes he owns, he'll only have to do the laundry once during his school break.
On the day of the highly anticipated Beach Bash, Eddie's monstrous pile of dirty laundry is found by his mom. And Eddie's day has just taken a turn for the worst. Now he's stuck at home by himself, missing the bash, and doing his whole pile of laundry. But midcycle, the power goes out!
With his first load of laundry wet and the rest of his stuff still filthy, he sets out to explore the seemingly empty neighborhood in his glow-in-the-dark swim trunks, flip-flops, and a beach towel. He soon meets up with other neighborhood newcomer Xavier (who was mid-haircut and has half his head shaved), Eddie's former friend Sonia (who has spent her entire break trying to beat a video game and was mid-battle with the final boss), and siblings Trey and Sage (who are dealing with major sibling drama).
As they group up to cover more ground and find out what happened, they realize that their families aren't coming back anytime soon. And as night falls, the crew realizes that they aren't just the only people left in the neighborhood, they might be the only people left... anywhere.
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First published April 5, 2022
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About the author
Justin A. Reynolds
14 books1,364 followersjustin a. reynolds has always wanted to be a writer. The earliest documentation of this desire was recorded on a sheet of green, learn-how-to-write-with-a-jumbo-pencil ruled kindergarten paper, which can be found prominently displayed in his mom’s office. OPPOSITE OF ALWAYS, his debut novel, was an Indies Introduce Top Ten Debut, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2019, translated in 17 languages, and is being developed for film with Paramount Players. He hangs out in northeast Ohio with his family, and is probably somewhere dancing terribly, or as his sister likes to say "doing the sports". His second novel EARLY DEPARTURES will publish in September 2020.
It's far more likely you can reach justin via Twitter (@andthisjustin) IG (@justinwritesya) or his website. Thank you so much for your support!
It's far more likely you can reach justin via Twitter (@andthisjustin) IG (@justinwritesya) or his website. Thank you so much for your support!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews
May 27, 2022
Ahhhh! This was a difficult one for me to rate! I absolutely love the character and I'm looking for more books that have Black boys at the center of the narrative and don't necessarily have dark themes to them. This book and the upcoming titles have so much potential, but the pacing was extremely off which only allowed me to give it 3.5 stars
It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit was a cover read. From the moment that the cover was revealed, I knew that I had to get my hands on this book. It looked so fun and the perfect read for the summer. The story centers around Eddie who is excited to go to the community end of the summer bash. His plans are quickly ruined when his mom discovers that he's spent the entire summer not doing any of his laundry. Instead of going to the bash, his mother makes him stay home and do the laundry.
The pacing of this book was all wrong. Clearly, from the title, readers know that something is going to happen to not only Eddie's community, but the entire world. However, the first 30-40% of the book is spent describing how frustrated Eddie is about doing his laundry, the relationship that he has with his family, and the process that he has to go through to do his laundry. If I wasn't curious about how this book was going to end, I think that I would have stopped reading it. It takes way too long for anything to actually happen and even then, readers are left with a cliff-hanger indicating that the story will continue in another installment. This first section was slightly boring and repetitive and I found myself losing focus on the story a few times.
What I did enjoy was Eddie as a character and the potential that this series may have. Eddie is hilarious and I really enjoyed the shenanigans that he and the supporting cast get into towards the end of the novel. There is so much potential with these books based off of some things that ended up happening throughout the course of the novel. It got weird and definitely gave off some dystopian like vibes. There were also some great conversations shared between Eddie and another character which ended up detailing how Eddie copes with having ADHD. This book also does a great job exploring feelings associated with the grieving the loss of a parent while also attempting to build a relationship with a stepparent. It's conflicting and Reynolds does a great job showcasing that in Eddie's character.
Overall, this was a solid read. I wanted a little more; however, I think I'll be continuing the series to see where the story is going to go.
It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit was a cover read. From the moment that the cover was revealed, I knew that I had to get my hands on this book. It looked so fun and the perfect read for the summer. The story centers around Eddie who is excited to go to the community end of the summer bash. His plans are quickly ruined when his mom discovers that he's spent the entire summer not doing any of his laundry. Instead of going to the bash, his mother makes him stay home and do the laundry.
The pacing of this book was all wrong. Clearly, from the title, readers know that something is going to happen to not only Eddie's community, but the entire world. However, the first 30-40% of the book is spent describing how frustrated Eddie is about doing his laundry, the relationship that he has with his family, and the process that he has to go through to do his laundry. If I wasn't curious about how this book was going to end, I think that I would have stopped reading it. It takes way too long for anything to actually happen and even then, readers are left with a cliff-hanger indicating that the story will continue in another installment. This first section was slightly boring and repetitive and I found myself losing focus on the story a few times.
What I did enjoy was Eddie as a character and the potential that this series may have. Eddie is hilarious and I really enjoyed the shenanigans that he and the supporting cast get into towards the end of the novel. There is so much potential with these books based off of some things that ended up happening throughout the course of the novel. It got weird and definitely gave off some dystopian like vibes. There were also some great conversations shared between Eddie and another character which ended up detailing how Eddie copes with having ADHD. This book also does a great job exploring feelings associated with the grieving the loss of a parent while also attempting to build a relationship with a stepparent. It's conflicting and Reynolds does a great job showcasing that in Eddie's character.
Overall, this was a solid read. I wanted a little more; however, I think I'll be continuing the series to see where the story is going to go.
February 25, 2022
Okay, so about nine years ago I wrote a blog post called, “2013 Middle Grade Black Boys: Seriously, People?" And I don’t think it’s going to surprise anybody that I found a whopping five middle grade novels where the main character was a boy who was Black. Three of them were written by sports stars. One was historical fiction about slavery. And one, just one, was contemporary and slightly more fun (by the late great Walter Dean Myers). And I’d like to say that was a low point in publishing, but I literally think that it might have been a good year. Fortunately, #WeNeedDiverseBooks and other organizations were created, publishers saw the idea of publishing a range of voices as good for their bottom line, and voila. Now it is 2022 and things are . . . well, they’re better. Not perfect, but heading in the right direction. To my own personal joy, one of the good things about publishing right now is that we’re beginning to get away from only showing Black characters in moments of tragedy and pain. Silly, funny, downright gross books are beginning to gain some traction. So, it is with great delight that I read It’s the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit. This, for me, felt like a kind of homecoming. A wonderful culmination in what I wished I could have seen way back in 2013. Here we have an incredibly funny writer. Here we have gross stuff (even if it’s just laundry) and silliness, and a cast of kids you’d follow to the end of the Earth… or has the end of the Earth come to them? Utterly carefree and ridiculous, this is a book that never takes itself too seriously. Which, naturally, means that I’m about to.
Bonus Fact: Near the end of this review I will list one downside to the book. You have been warned.
It was the perfect plan. When Eddie made a deal with his parents, which to say his mom and stepdad WBD (a.k.a. “Wanna-Be Dad”), the idea was that he’d do his laundry all summer and they’d stay off his back. Well, it’s halfway through the summer and the day Eddie’s been dreaming of all this time is here. It’s Beach Bash day! The whole town is headed out to Lake Erie for summertime in the fun. Everyone, that is, except Eddie. Turns out his idea to wear a different piece of clothing every day (thereby allowing him to do laundry only once all summer) has caught the attention of his mom and she is NOT pleased. So poor Eddie is stuck at home with laundry to do. And then the power goes out. And all the cell phone reception disappears. And weird fireworks are seen in the sky. And no one who goes to the beach ever, EVER comes back. Eddie’s just met up with four other kids in his neighborhood who also got left behind. He’s in his only wearable piece of clothing, a bathing suit, and suddenly things are weirder, wilder, and goofier than even he could have predicted.
I’m a librarian so naturally one of the first things I’m going to do with this book is see how it’s classified (librarians think that kind of thing is fun. Seriously). So I look at its subject headings and the first thing I see is “Classification: Dystopian”. Now I see why they did that. The title, after all, does appear to sport the words “It’s the End of the World” in there. Usually world ending is on the “dys” end of “topias”. However, I don’t think the cataloger that slotted this book into that category was doing their due diligence because the fact of the matter is that in Eddie I have found one of my favorite types of narrators: The unreliable kindf. Eddie has one goal at the beginning of this book and it is to charm and convince you. Of what? Literally, whatever is popping into his head at a given moment. Once in a while his own internal dialogue will catch him in his own lies (he would not call them lies, by the way) but the fact of the matter is, you don’t know how much to trust him. And, like every truly great unreliable narrator, you’re having too much fun on this joyride to even care. But one fact I simply cannot let go of is this: This may not even be an end-of-the-world book. Seriously, the kids lose power and can’t text and within minutes they’re fairly convinced that civilization itself has collapsed. Seems a bit of a leap.
And Eddie’s kind of a charmer. He might be convincing you that the world is ending. Heck, he might even believe it himself. It’s a little hard to tell in that you’re often laughing too hard about what he’s saying to tell. I read a lot of children’s books in a given year so I have to be choosy about the ones I stick with. Usually, I’ll give a book a good chapter or two to get going. If it can retain my interest during that time, awesome. If it cannot then it’s on to the next! This book? It begins with Eddie telling the child reader how to con adults into believing they're reading more than they are. I mean, that’s essentially out-and-out bribery right from the start. This is immediately followed by Eddie’s brilliant plan for getting out of doing laundry all summer. So you’ve got a con followed by a con. Who can resist that? Heck, the second con was so good that I ended up just reading passages of the book aloud to my kids. This was better than when I was sitting in my very serious, very grown-up lunchroom at work, reading this book and snorting and snucking like a stuck pig. No lie. There was chortling involved (and Eddie can confirm that that’s a word).
The art of the funny middle grade novel is rare. I can’t tell you how to write one. Mediocre ones are common. Truly hilarious ones? Almost impossible. I swear we sometimes get whole years where there aren’t any funny novels for kids. Not truly funny, I mean. But this book uses a whole slew of techniques and starts interchanging them so rapidly that you never know what Reynolds is going to pull out next. Sometimes he’ll have someone do interior dialogue with an inanimate object (like a spatula). Other times he’ll imagine discussions between two concepts (if the sequence of the universe talking to itself isn’t turned into a one-person show someday, I’ll eat my geranium). He does callbacks. He makes fun of oat milk (it’s low hanging fruit but who can’t appreciate a line like the one that says his stepdad, “…drinks milk that grows outta dirt”?). Like a lot of authors, Reynolds discovered that a lot of what’s funny comes out in dialogue. I sympathize with this, since whenever I write a book, I basically just want to make it pure dialogue and nothing else. And his dialogue is amazing (there’s a part about a false ice cream man that really stands out), but it can’t hold a candle to the internal dialoguing of Eddie himself. His tangents are a thing of beauty. And my favorite moment in the book, bar none, is when someone is pounding on Eddie’s front door, and the reader is just dying to know who it is, when Eddie suddenly makes this right-hand swerve and starts talking about the reader’s emotional vulnerability and how “I wanna meet you where you are, yeah?” It’s clear that Eddie’s been to more than a few therapy sessions in his life. It’s clear that Mr. Reynolds perhaps has too.
In a little author’s note at the beginning of the reviewer’s copy of this book that I received, Justin A. Reynolds says that in writing this book he wanted to make something in the vein of “Adventures in Babysitting,” “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” “Home Alone,” etc. In other words, Justin A. Reynolds is my age, or close to it. But you get what he’s saying. He wants to write good-hearted, light -hearted, hearty fun. But he’s got a problem. He has to advance a potentially dire sounding plot, keep things light, introduce at least one actual emotional moment (and pull it off), and also put in some truly wackadoodle moments involving zombies or sports play-by-plays involving dogs. Tonally, that’s a nightmare situation. Plus, as I mentioned before, you’re getting all of this via your hero’s p.o.v. First person can be a blessing or a curse. It works here, but that was never a guarantee.
Now the downside of the book. You knew there’d be one when I started this review, so don’t give me those puppydog eyes now. I’m only telling you this because I care about you. Ready? I’m not going to hold back so open wide for a great big truth sandwich. The down side of this story is . . . it ends on a cliffhanger. Not a literal one. More like, an end of Stuart Little one, with our heroes going off into the sunset. Let it be known that I established a deep and abiding disgruntlement with Stuart Little back in the third grade because of that ending, and I have never ever let my disappointment fade. Of course, Justin A. Reynolds has two great big advantages over E.B. White. 1: He is not dead (I mean, not as of this writing anyway). 2: He can write a sequel. Can and, I certainly hope, will. He’ll have to when the raging hordes of furious pre-teens flood the streets demanding their due. Their funny funny due.
The tangents are going to try to convince you that this book was easy to write. I mean, maybe it was. I don’t know Justin A. Reynolds myself. Maybe he can churn out MG fiction in his sleep. But I think of this book more as an example of clockwork. There are all these intricate moving parts and it’s the author’s job not simply to fit them in but to make them work together. If I could ask Mr. Reynolds a question, just one question, I’d ask him what was the funniest joke he had to cut. Because the editing on this sucker must have been something else. It gives you the feel of off-the-cuff humor but there’s a method to this man’s madness. I think we can definitely declare it a success, no matter what, though. I’ll be curious to see how it does with the kids. To my mind, it’s Wimpy Kid levels of funny, and we haven’t seen a new book like that in a long time. So for its hidden intricacies, gags that land, heart, smarts, and general good-natured attitude, I’d declare this book a success. If the catalogers are right and this truly is a dystopian work, then I can’t think of a better reason to cheer on the end of the world.
New Motto for Justin A. Reynolds: He Makes It Look Easy.
Bonus Fact: Near the end of this review I will list one downside to the book. You have been warned.
It was the perfect plan. When Eddie made a deal with his parents, which to say his mom and stepdad WBD (a.k.a. “Wanna-Be Dad”), the idea was that he’d do his laundry all summer and they’d stay off his back. Well, it’s halfway through the summer and the day Eddie’s been dreaming of all this time is here. It’s Beach Bash day! The whole town is headed out to Lake Erie for summertime in the fun. Everyone, that is, except Eddie. Turns out his idea to wear a different piece of clothing every day (thereby allowing him to do laundry only once all summer) has caught the attention of his mom and she is NOT pleased. So poor Eddie is stuck at home with laundry to do. And then the power goes out. And all the cell phone reception disappears. And weird fireworks are seen in the sky. And no one who goes to the beach ever, EVER comes back. Eddie’s just met up with four other kids in his neighborhood who also got left behind. He’s in his only wearable piece of clothing, a bathing suit, and suddenly things are weirder, wilder, and goofier than even he could have predicted.
I’m a librarian so naturally one of the first things I’m going to do with this book is see how it’s classified (librarians think that kind of thing is fun. Seriously). So I look at its subject headings and the first thing I see is “Classification: Dystopian”. Now I see why they did that. The title, after all, does appear to sport the words “It’s the End of the World” in there. Usually world ending is on the “dys” end of “topias”. However, I don’t think the cataloger that slotted this book into that category was doing their due diligence because the fact of the matter is that in Eddie I have found one of my favorite types of narrators: The unreliable kindf. Eddie has one goal at the beginning of this book and it is to charm and convince you. Of what? Literally, whatever is popping into his head at a given moment. Once in a while his own internal dialogue will catch him in his own lies (he would not call them lies, by the way) but the fact of the matter is, you don’t know how much to trust him. And, like every truly great unreliable narrator, you’re having too much fun on this joyride to even care. But one fact I simply cannot let go of is this: This may not even be an end-of-the-world book. Seriously, the kids lose power and can’t text and within minutes they’re fairly convinced that civilization itself has collapsed. Seems a bit of a leap.
And Eddie’s kind of a charmer. He might be convincing you that the world is ending. Heck, he might even believe it himself. It’s a little hard to tell in that you’re often laughing too hard about what he’s saying to tell. I read a lot of children’s books in a given year so I have to be choosy about the ones I stick with. Usually, I’ll give a book a good chapter or two to get going. If it can retain my interest during that time, awesome. If it cannot then it’s on to the next! This book? It begins with Eddie telling the child reader how to con adults into believing they're reading more than they are. I mean, that’s essentially out-and-out bribery right from the start. This is immediately followed by Eddie’s brilliant plan for getting out of doing laundry all summer. So you’ve got a con followed by a con. Who can resist that? Heck, the second con was so good that I ended up just reading passages of the book aloud to my kids. This was better than when I was sitting in my very serious, very grown-up lunchroom at work, reading this book and snorting and snucking like a stuck pig. No lie. There was chortling involved (and Eddie can confirm that that’s a word).
The art of the funny middle grade novel is rare. I can’t tell you how to write one. Mediocre ones are common. Truly hilarious ones? Almost impossible. I swear we sometimes get whole years where there aren’t any funny novels for kids. Not truly funny, I mean. But this book uses a whole slew of techniques and starts interchanging them so rapidly that you never know what Reynolds is going to pull out next. Sometimes he’ll have someone do interior dialogue with an inanimate object (like a spatula). Other times he’ll imagine discussions between two concepts (if the sequence of the universe talking to itself isn’t turned into a one-person show someday, I’ll eat my geranium). He does callbacks. He makes fun of oat milk (it’s low hanging fruit but who can’t appreciate a line like the one that says his stepdad, “…drinks milk that grows outta dirt”?). Like a lot of authors, Reynolds discovered that a lot of what’s funny comes out in dialogue. I sympathize with this, since whenever I write a book, I basically just want to make it pure dialogue and nothing else. And his dialogue is amazing (there’s a part about a false ice cream man that really stands out), but it can’t hold a candle to the internal dialoguing of Eddie himself. His tangents are a thing of beauty. And my favorite moment in the book, bar none, is when someone is pounding on Eddie’s front door, and the reader is just dying to know who it is, when Eddie suddenly makes this right-hand swerve and starts talking about the reader’s emotional vulnerability and how “I wanna meet you where you are, yeah?” It’s clear that Eddie’s been to more than a few therapy sessions in his life. It’s clear that Mr. Reynolds perhaps has too.
In a little author’s note at the beginning of the reviewer’s copy of this book that I received, Justin A. Reynolds says that in writing this book he wanted to make something in the vein of “Adventures in Babysitting,” “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” “Home Alone,” etc. In other words, Justin A. Reynolds is my age, or close to it. But you get what he’s saying. He wants to write good-hearted, light -hearted, hearty fun. But he’s got a problem. He has to advance a potentially dire sounding plot, keep things light, introduce at least one actual emotional moment (and pull it off), and also put in some truly wackadoodle moments involving zombies or sports play-by-plays involving dogs. Tonally, that’s a nightmare situation. Plus, as I mentioned before, you’re getting all of this via your hero’s p.o.v. First person can be a blessing or a curse. It works here, but that was never a guarantee.
Now the downside of the book. You knew there’d be one when I started this review, so don’t give me those puppydog eyes now. I’m only telling you this because I care about you. Ready? I’m not going to hold back so open wide for a great big truth sandwich. The down side of this story is . . . it ends on a cliffhanger. Not a literal one. More like, an end of Stuart Little one, with our heroes going off into the sunset. Let it be known that I established a deep and abiding disgruntlement with Stuart Little back in the third grade because of that ending, and I have never ever let my disappointment fade. Of course, Justin A. Reynolds has two great big advantages over E.B. White. 1: He is not dead (I mean, not as of this writing anyway). 2: He can write a sequel. Can and, I certainly hope, will. He’ll have to when the raging hordes of furious pre-teens flood the streets demanding their due. Their funny funny due.
The tangents are going to try to convince you that this book was easy to write. I mean, maybe it was. I don’t know Justin A. Reynolds myself. Maybe he can churn out MG fiction in his sleep. But I think of this book more as an example of clockwork. There are all these intricate moving parts and it’s the author’s job not simply to fit them in but to make them work together. If I could ask Mr. Reynolds a question, just one question, I’d ask him what was the funniest joke he had to cut. Because the editing on this sucker must have been something else. It gives you the feel of off-the-cuff humor but there’s a method to this man’s madness. I think we can definitely declare it a success, no matter what, though. I’ll be curious to see how it does with the kids. To my mind, it’s Wimpy Kid levels of funny, and we haven’t seen a new book like that in a long time. So for its hidden intricacies, gags that land, heart, smarts, and general good-natured attitude, I’d declare this book a success. If the catalogers are right and this truly is a dystopian work, then I can’t think of a better reason to cheer on the end of the world.
New Motto for Justin A. Reynolds: He Makes It Look Easy.
March 30, 2022
Eddie Gordon Holloway is a twelve-year-old boy with a new responsiblity over the summer holiday - his own laundry. Disgusted with the impending chore, Eddie comes up with a fabulous idea - he will wear every stitch of clothing he has and make it so that he only has to do laundry just once this summer. When he gets down to his last item, a pair of swim trunks, Eddie is forced to face the inevitable.
Unhappy that his mother has remarried is only one of Eddie's problems. His older brother is incredibly annoying. Then there is Beach Bash - the ultimate summer party - and the perfect time to ask childhood friend Ava to go steady with him.
Eddie dives in - bad smells notwithstanding - and as he struggles to get his first load of laundry going, the power goes out. In short order, Eddie realizes that the power is out everywhere, and he soon finds himself with four of his friends. In fact, Eddie, his four friends, and who else? No one else. No other kids. No adults. No power. No cell service. And he is in his swim trunks.
What fun! I loved this snarky middle-grade read. In fact, I have only read a small handful of middle grade titles, but I found this one to be quite enjoyable, leaving me more than interested to read more of Justin A. Reynolds books as well as other middle grade titles.
Many thanks to Scholastic Press for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Unhappy that his mother has remarried is only one of Eddie's problems. His older brother is incredibly annoying. Then there is Beach Bash - the ultimate summer party - and the perfect time to ask childhood friend Ava to go steady with him.
Eddie dives in - bad smells notwithstanding - and as he struggles to get his first load of laundry going, the power goes out. In short order, Eddie realizes that the power is out everywhere, and he soon finds himself with four of his friends. In fact, Eddie, his four friends, and who else? No one else. No other kids. No adults. No power. No cell service. And he is in his swim trunks.
What fun! I loved this snarky middle-grade read. In fact, I have only read a small handful of middle grade titles, but I found this one to be quite enjoyable, leaving me more than interested to read more of Justin A. Reynolds books as well as other middle grade titles.
Many thanks to Scholastic Press for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
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May 31, 2023IT FUNNY
June 27, 2022
First sentence: On the third day of summer vacation, I devised THEE perfect three month plan.*
Premise/plot: Eddie Gordon Holloway is having the worst day ever...well...it depends on your perspective, I suppose. Eddie gets grounded from participating in Beach Bash with his family. Forced to stay home and do laundry because literally EVERY item of clothing he owns (minus one bathing suit) is dirty, he's angry and anxious. (Because the laundry room is in the basement). But when the power goes out, his anxiety, well, shifts and accelerates. He finds other neighborhood kids missing out on Beach Bash (Xavier, Sonia, Trey, and Sage) and they hang out together. All are hoping the power can come on soon so they can resume life as usual...some are VERY anxious to return to their video games.
My thoughts: NOTHING HAPPENS. 300 pages of nothing happening. I was so annoyed. Don't tease THE END OF THE WORLD if the climax of the novel is either a) when the lights initially go out and he might have stumbled while in the basement or b) when the kids decided to eat sugary snacks. It is just all kinds of wrong to promise an actual END OF THE WORLD mystery but spend 45% of the book on a kid complaining about having to do laundry. The book ends before it even begins with literally no satisfaction and only slightly humorous moments strung together.
It isn't that I hated these characters. I just wanted the story to actually move forward and for the characters to actually do something. Not "something" in the sense of moving to another room and eating candy. But, you know, beginning to figure out WHAT was going on and why their families never came back from Beach Bash. Perhaps the author couldn't decide WHAT the calamity would be and he's postponing that until book two??? Will there be a book two????
*I personally think it should be THE instead of THEE but I am copying it straight from the book.
Premise/plot: Eddie Gordon Holloway is having the worst day ever...well...it depends on your perspective, I suppose. Eddie gets grounded from participating in Beach Bash with his family. Forced to stay home and do laundry because literally EVERY item of clothing he owns (minus one bathing suit) is dirty, he's angry and anxious. (Because the laundry room is in the basement). But when the power goes out, his anxiety, well, shifts and accelerates. He finds other neighborhood kids missing out on Beach Bash (Xavier, Sonia, Trey, and Sage) and they hang out together. All are hoping the power can come on soon so they can resume life as usual...some are VERY anxious to return to their video games.
My thoughts: NOTHING HAPPENS. 300 pages of nothing happening. I was so annoyed. Don't tease THE END OF THE WORLD if the climax of the novel is either a) when the lights initially go out and he might have stumbled while in the basement or b) when the kids decided to eat sugary snacks. It is just all kinds of wrong to promise an actual END OF THE WORLD mystery but spend 45% of the book on a kid complaining about having to do laundry. The book ends before it even begins with literally no satisfaction and only slightly humorous moments strung together.
It isn't that I hated these characters. I just wanted the story to actually move forward and for the characters to actually do something. Not "something" in the sense of moving to another room and eating candy. But, you know, beginning to figure out WHAT was going on and why their families never came back from Beach Bash. Perhaps the author couldn't decide WHAT the calamity would be and he's postponing that until book two??? Will there be a book two????
*I personally think it should be THE instead of THEE but I am copying it straight from the book.
July 27, 2022
I thought I was going to love this book. And I did at first. The beginning was so engaging and well done! But once the main character plunged into stream of consciousness rambling, my excitement plummeted. The plot barely moved at all, and when it did, I found the characters' motivations unclear and confusing. By the end of the book, I still had no idea what was going on, and unfortunately I'm not intrigued enough to read the sequel and find out.
May 19, 2022
Ladybug said this is a 4/5 and she cannot wait until the next book comes out.
April 11, 2022
This book tackles the end of the world trope with the enthusiasm and resourcefulness of a tween age boy, which in this case is an extremely good thing. Fun and funny while building up the mystery, I look forward to reading the follow up titles. Easy to recommend to kids!
February 21, 2022
I understand what the stream of consciousness was going for, but I felt like I read the first two chapters of a book instead of a whole book - would have preferred a bit less talk for another step or two forward in the plot...Otherwise, entertaining.
December 19, 2023
If there was a way I could put this any higher than five I would. It was a literal masterpiece.
It kept me interested the entire time.
This is my new favorite book.
I wish the next book would come out sooner. I am so excited and can’t wait to read the next one
It kept me interested the entire time.
This is my new favorite book.
I wish the next book would come out sooner. I am so excited and can’t wait to read the next one
September 14, 2022
Justin A. Reynolds is one of my favorite writers. I wish I could've enjoyed this more, but it was too lackluster. I found this unfunny and boring.
The characters especially the older brother felt really flat and cliché. I'm not expecting a kid to have a nuanced perspective of the people around him, but everyone felt like blank archetypes.
Eddie wasn't the worst. His attention span and narrative voice is spontaneous, and his thoughts jump quickly. He's also PAINFULLY long-winded.
Ultimately, too much time spent on laundry in the beginning. I started skimming toward the end, but I don't remember the story resolving what happened to everyone. I didn't enjoy this story, but I still think YA is where Reynolds shines.
SN: I adore the cover so much. Just beautiful!
1.5
The characters especially the older brother felt really flat and cliché. I'm not expecting a kid to have a nuanced perspective of the people around him, but everyone felt like blank archetypes.
Eddie wasn't the worst. His attention span and narrative voice is spontaneous, and his thoughts jump quickly. He's also PAINFULLY long-winded.
Ultimately, too much time spent on laundry in the beginning. I started skimming toward the end, but I don't remember the story resolving what happened to everyone. I didn't enjoy this story, but I still think YA is where Reynolds shines.
SN: I adore the cover so much. Just beautiful!
1.5
April 5, 2022
Eddie has the perfect plan in order to avoid his least favorite chore all summer: laundry. Laundry is the worst. In order to do it the least amount of times, he has decided to wear every single piece of clothing he owns. Even if it doesn't fit with the weather. Doing that means he'll only have to do laundry once over the summer.
However, on the day of the very anticipated Beach Bash, Eddie's mom finds his pile of laundry in his room. Now, he's stuck doing laundry instead of celebrating with his friends. Unfortunately, in the middle of his first load, the power goes out. So, he sets out in the neighborhood to figure out what's going on. But it seems that all the adults have disappeared. And Eddie and his friends might be the only ones left.
Thanks to Scholastic for sending me an advanced copy of this to review! Right off the bat, Reynolds sets the humorous tone for the rest of the book. Eddie is such a snarky narrator, and his descriptions of laundry are hilarious. As are his views on a lot of things!
Middle grade readers will definitely relate to Eddie's trials as a kid just trying to have fun for the summer. After all, who really wants summer to be taken up by chores? What will really draw readers in is Eddie's descriptions of laundry, of his life, of his neighborhood. Reynolds really nails the voice, right from the beginning.
However, the plot itself does take a bit to get going. About the first half of the book is Eddie filling in readers with his family drama, which might make some middle grade readers lose interest. However, it is a first book in a series, so there's plenty to hook readers into wanting to continue with Eddie's story.
All in all, this is a funny, down to Earth middle grade novel I think readers will thoroughly enjoy.
However, on the day of the very anticipated Beach Bash, Eddie's mom finds his pile of laundry in his room. Now, he's stuck doing laundry instead of celebrating with his friends. Unfortunately, in the middle of his first load, the power goes out. So, he sets out in the neighborhood to figure out what's going on. But it seems that all the adults have disappeared. And Eddie and his friends might be the only ones left.
Thanks to Scholastic for sending me an advanced copy of this to review! Right off the bat, Reynolds sets the humorous tone for the rest of the book. Eddie is such a snarky narrator, and his descriptions of laundry are hilarious. As are his views on a lot of things!
Middle grade readers will definitely relate to Eddie's trials as a kid just trying to have fun for the summer. After all, who really wants summer to be taken up by chores? What will really draw readers in is Eddie's descriptions of laundry, of his life, of his neighborhood. Reynolds really nails the voice, right from the beginning.
However, the plot itself does take a bit to get going. About the first half of the book is Eddie filling in readers with his family drama, which might make some middle grade readers lose interest. However, it is a first book in a series, so there's plenty to hook readers into wanting to continue with Eddie's story.
All in all, this is a funny, down to Earth middle grade novel I think readers will thoroughly enjoy.
March 29, 2022
Facing the disappearance of his entire neighborhood was not what Eddie expected when he woke up the morning of the Beach Bash. He expected to spend time hanging with his friends at the beach with a slushy trying to gain the attention of his crush. But a brilliant plan gone bad leaves him stuck at home doing laundry (the worst chore ever according to Eddie--his diatribe on the subject is rather amusing but he does have some interesting points). When the power goes out, Eddie is left on his own. The appearance of his friend, Xavier with half a haircut, they look around the neighborhood trying to figure out what's happening. They join forces with sports hero Trey and his sister, Sage, and Eddie's best friend, Sonia. After pulling Sonia from her video game funk, the kids go scrounging for supplies through nearby homes. Eventually, the kids realize that something has gone very, very wrong, and that maybe that their families aren't coming back.
Eddie's voice is what makes this book stand out. The narrative technique the author uses had Eddie actually 'talking' to the reader, both telling his story and answering questions the reader has supposed asked. It makes for a rather light-hearted tone to a story that could have ended up being terrifying. Eddie and his friends end up being rather capable of taking care of themselves, at least in the short term. In the long term, it remains to be seen. As the first book in a series, there is clearly much more story to be told. I enjoyed the way the kids interacted with each other. There was plenty of disagreeing, teasing, and helping going on within the group. I definitely plan to read future volumes because I am very curious about what's going on and there are no answers provided in this book which sets up future volumes. An entertaining story full of heart, humor, and lots and lots of questions. A great book for readers who enjoy unusual narrative voices with a lot of snark.
Eddie's voice is what makes this book stand out. The narrative technique the author uses had Eddie actually 'talking' to the reader, both telling his story and answering questions the reader has supposed asked. It makes for a rather light-hearted tone to a story that could have ended up being terrifying. Eddie and his friends end up being rather capable of taking care of themselves, at least in the short term. In the long term, it remains to be seen. As the first book in a series, there is clearly much more story to be told. I enjoyed the way the kids interacted with each other. There was plenty of disagreeing, teasing, and helping going on within the group. I definitely plan to read future volumes because I am very curious about what's going on and there are no answers provided in this book which sets up future volumes. An entertaining story full of heart, humor, and lots and lots of questions. A great book for readers who enjoy unusual narrative voices with a lot of snark.
February 10, 2023
My 12 year old son never got into reading as my other kids have, and I wanted him to experience what it was like to get into a book, get excited about a plot and really become engaged with the characters. So, I picked up this book, looking for something entertaining and engaging and decided to read it with him in the evenings. I couldn't have picked a more perfect book! I highly recommend it as a read to teens/preteens in general but especially anyone that lives with ADHD.
This book is hilarious, goes off the most random tangents and at the same time it addresses all the right topics in the most appropriate way. Things like chores, dealing the consequences, dealing with authority, loss, step-parent, taking medicine, having therapy, managing siblings, friends, what to say what not to say and how to approach starting a task when you don't want to. All of these are addressed through humor and relatability.
Totally worth the read!
This book is hilarious, goes off the most random tangents and at the same time it addresses all the right topics in the most appropriate way. Things like chores, dealing the consequences, dealing with authority, loss, step-parent, taking medicine, having therapy, managing siblings, friends, what to say what not to say and how to approach starting a task when you don't want to. All of these are addressed through humor and relatability.
Totally worth the read!
March 18, 2022
Craig of the Creek meets This Is the End in this hilarious middle grade novel by Justin A. Reynolds.
Much of childhood feels like it goes unrecognized for the genius presented during this period. For Eddie, the main character of It’s the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit, this summation defines precisely how he feels as a twelve year old with under-appreciated ideas. The main injustice he encounters in this book? Why, his mother grounding him from the biggest beach day event of the summer all because she fails to venerate the strategy Eddie developed for getting through the summer without being stuck in the creepy basement every week. You see, the basement is a no man’s land where things linger in the dark and Eddie wants to spend as little time there as possible. So when his mom leaves him in charge of taking care of his needs throughout the summer, he decides that he will wear every article of clothing he owns, which should last him through the beach day—when all he’ll have left is his swimsuit. Then he’ll take care of all of his laundry before school starts. What’s not to love in the plan, right?
Find the full review here: https://blackgirlscreate.org/2022/03/...
Much of childhood feels like it goes unrecognized for the genius presented during this period. For Eddie, the main character of It’s the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit, this summation defines precisely how he feels as a twelve year old with under-appreciated ideas. The main injustice he encounters in this book? Why, his mother grounding him from the biggest beach day event of the summer all because she fails to venerate the strategy Eddie developed for getting through the summer without being stuck in the creepy basement every week. You see, the basement is a no man’s land where things linger in the dark and Eddie wants to spend as little time there as possible. So when his mom leaves him in charge of taking care of his needs throughout the summer, he decides that he will wear every article of clothing he owns, which should last him through the beach day—when all he’ll have left is his swimsuit. Then he’ll take care of all of his laundry before school starts. What’s not to love in the plan, right?
Find the full review here: https://blackgirlscreate.org/2022/03/...
February 20, 2023
What did I just listen to?! I was so excited for this book, and was so let down.
I strongly disliked the way the main character broke the 4th wall and spoke to the reader as though the reader was speaking back.
I understand that the character has ADHD which probably contributes to the disjointed storytelling, but the distractions and asides were too much.
The "end of the world" is a power outage that happens halfway through the book. Then the five kids basically spend the next quarter of the book doing all the things kids dream of doing when there are no grown ups -- basically, eating lots of junk food. At 75% of the way through, they start to consider that maybe the grownups aren't coming back and start going through other people's houses. And by the end of the book, they decide to look for the grownups. There is no ending. The plot is very loose. I have no motivation to read any future books if this becomes a series.
**Positives: Characters are just normal, fun-loving kids who are also Black. Main character talks openly about having ADHD and seeing a therapist.
I strongly disliked the way the main character broke the 4th wall and spoke to the reader as though the reader was speaking back.
I understand that the character has ADHD which probably contributes to the disjointed storytelling, but the distractions and asides were too much.
The "end of the world" is a power outage that happens halfway through the book. Then the five kids basically spend the next quarter of the book doing all the things kids dream of doing when there are no grown ups -- basically, eating lots of junk food. At 75% of the way through, they start to consider that maybe the grownups aren't coming back and start going through other people's houses. And by the end of the book, they decide to look for the grownups. There is no ending. The plot is very loose. I have no motivation to read any future books if this becomes a series.
**Positives: Characters are just normal, fun-loving kids who are also Black. Main character talks openly about having ADHD and seeing a therapist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2022
This book is good for those who want a chill read. The narrator/main character is great. I guess because I didn't know there would be a continuation, I was waiting on plot twists or something more. I will be reading the next installment though.
August 2, 2022
"Yesterday was supposed to be the best day Eddie Gordon Holloway has ever had."
I think this is one of those books you either hate or love. I had a much better experience with the audiobook - when I tried reading it, Eddie's endless side tangents interrupted the story too much. But when I listened, the narrative felt totally natural.
Also related to pace: the story builds SUPER slowly and ends on a total cliffhanger!
I think this is one of those books you either hate or love. I had a much better experience with the audiobook - when I tried reading it, Eddie's endless side tangents interrupted the story too much. But when I listened, the narrative felt totally natural.
Also related to pace: the story builds SUPER slowly and ends on a total cliffhanger!
December 16, 2022
We read this one as a class. The main character Eddie is hilarious and goes in very random tangents. We did do a lot of head scratching as to what point he was trying to make, but it definitely kept it interesting. This is the first book in at least a set of 2 and my students are very excited for the next one to be written.
March 29, 2024
Eddie describes the worst day of his life, which happens to turn into the funnest day of his life…as it seems. I love how the writer truly writes in Eddie’s voice, his ADHD ramblings voice, middle school shenanigans voice, and the still grieving his dad’s death but mom has moved on voice.
April 24, 2022
Utterly ridiculous, with a charming narrator, some laugh out loud moments, and an unforgivably ambiguous cliffhanger ending.
May 21, 2022
I cannot wait until the sequel. So good.
June 17, 2022
The boys and I had so much FUN reading this book. Never have I heard them utter “cliffhanger” and not want to stop reading at the end of the night!
August 21, 2024
….the entire first half is about laundry and then there is no conclusion….
Giving it 3 stars bc my son loved it but as a chapter book what? This shouldn’t be allowed.
Giving it 3 stars bc my son loved it but as a chapter book what? This shouldn’t be allowed.
December 10, 2024
Got this as an ARC eons ago. Cute but way too many sidebars/tangents.
June 29, 2025
3.5 stars
Man this kid really doesn't like laundry.
Man this kid really doesn't like laundry.
March 22, 2023
The humor throughout, even in an uncertain situation is great, but the abrupt ending will leave you with whip lash.
June 5, 2022
Its been a while since I’ve laughed so much while reading a middle grade novel. I absolutely love the main character who also narrates the story. He’s charming, funny, a bit of a con man, & 100% lovable. The audio version is AMAZING! Fans of humor will really enjoy this one.
December 4, 2022
This book was a 4 star overall, but the ending made me take away a star. I don’t like the ending because it kind of just stops the story for NO reason at all. I did, however, like the rest of the book.
November 25, 2022
It seems like any other end of summer novel of youthful shenanigans. But it isn't. The last fifty pages or so are such a paradigm shift that I was actually shocked down to my very core. This reaction is again, despite the straightforward, no nonsense title. Middle grade titles are often full of histrionics. So I tend to take them with a grain of salt. This one, though, damn!
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Marginalized Home Blue Highway 666633
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Marginalized Home Blue Highway 666633
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