Rocket and Groot: Stranded on Planet Strip Mall!

Rocket & Groot Chapter Book Adventures

by Tom Angleberger

After battling deadly space piranhas in Sector 7 of the Cosmos, Rocket and Groot crash-land on a planet made entirely of strip malls!There are dry cleaners, nail salons, 99 cent stores, 98 cent stores, chain restaurants,and maniacal robots bent on customer service. Sounds like paradise, right? Wrong. It doesn't take long for Rocket to discover that the place is infested with raccoon-eating toilets! That's right. KILLER toilets! Badly injured from the piranha fight, the totally-butt-kicking-duo have no ship, no guns, no money, no food, no water . . . BUT . . they have each other. Oh, and Veronica,the totally awesome super-intelligent tape dispenser!! (She told us to say that).

Told through the eyes of Rocket, STRANDED ON PLANET STRIPMALL features simple black-and-white drawings throughout, as Rocket uses a space stylus to express his adventures, visually, while Veronica, their space recording companion, lays out the adventure in text! Granted, the drawings are done by a space Raccoon with a bad attitude, but what would happen if he gave Groot a shot to draw an adventure they had been on? What would we get? We'll find out in the final chapter!

Genres: Middle Grade, Science Fiction, Humor, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Childrens, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Tom Angleberger artist-turned-writer. He is a columnist for the Roanoke Times in Roanoke, Virginia, and began work on his first book while in middle school. Tom is married to author-illustrator Cece Bell. He lives in Christianburg, Virginia.

Reviews

[Gabe "The Dungeon Master" Graffam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. It's the story of Rocket and Groot crashed on a planet strip mall. The story is that there ship got destroyed in a space pirannha battle and they landed on this planet to save them selves. They get into a couple of fights with the "Guardians" (You'll get it if you read it), Robotic Tooth Fairys and Toilets. It was very good and I guarantee that you will at leat laugh if not love this book.

[Hillari Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is going to be short and sweet and to the point, because how do you really write a long review about Rocket and Groot: Stranded on Planet Strip Mall!?

My seventh period class chose science fiction for their next read-aloud genre and after a vote, this book became the winner. Not exactly what I expected to be reading in my grade eight classroom, but hey, if it brings enjoyment and strikes a reading desire for some, then my job is done.

Shockingly, this was not horrible! It was child-like and ridiculous and immature, but it was also at times rather funny, held your attention, and child-like in the best sense! I was surprised when I found myself giggling during a few moments in the beginning, and the rest of the book continued to follow suit, wrapping up quickly and in perfect time for my students to choose another read-aloud.

If you are looking for something fast-paced, young and completely silly, this may be the book for you.

[Anna P · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made me laugh but was it also very ridiculous. I probably won't ever read this again unless I'm bored and I need something to do. This book was overall very funny, but like I said I am never reading it again.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, rejoice! Tom Angleberger has provided you with a brand new, hilarious, and age appropriate book about Rocket and Groot! We've had a hard time around our house, because both my 11yo and 7yo fell in love with those characters just from seeing the trailers of the movie two years ago, but most comics and book tie ins are wildly inappropriate for their ages. But now Angleberger has brought his scribbly, childlike magic to the Guardians, and it's great! There was more depth to his ORIGAMI YODA series, but if you're looking for fun romp for your Guardians fans, this is it.

[Sarah Churchill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really unsure about the illustrations to start, but once that was explained as part of the story they made much more sense and became endearing. Having no idea what to expect it also took me a lot longer than it probably should have to realise this is a written audio log of their adventure. So we get a lot of 'sound of XYZ happening' that honestly irritated me for a while, but I guess that's just me missing the memo and expecting something different.

I love the idea of a middlegrade series with these characters, and it was a lot of fun. I'm sure younger readers will devour these, and I have another volume here that I'm going to start right this second!

[Ethan H · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why does this even exist? Garbage! For this review, I’m going to list synonyms of bad. Atrocious. Garbage. Poop. Poo. Pure defication. Any gross bodily fluid. (there’s a theme) 1 star. Don’t read if you want to keep brain cells.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students love Tom Angleberger, and I love the Guardians of the Galaxy...so when this was finally available, I grabbed it to read. Though it looks easy on the surface, students will need to use inferencing skills and decoding to help them understand what's happening in the story--dialogue is written in different fonts depending on character, and all outside narration is inserted as a "sound of" blurb. The characters are funny (who would have thought a tape dispenser would be so appealing?) and the story is fast-paced and silly. A fun read overall.

[MorganD · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was... well... umm... I would say... interesting, for lack of better words. We read this as a read aloud in ELA class and it was ridiculous. It was about Rocket and Groot stranded on a planet with toilets that were trying to eat them. I personally didn’t want to read this book because it is super ridiculous but it won the vote. I would recommend this book to 3-10 year olds not really 13 and 14 year olds, lol.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what I expected, but this was certainly it.
More "Captain Underpants" than "Origami Yoda." (For some people, that would be endorsement enough!) This book is an audio-log of Rocket and Groot's latest adventure, with occasional scribbled illustrations; the talking tape dispenser really steals the show.

[Jojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this book was amazing! I was laughing through the entirety of it. This book is about to characters from Guardians of the Galaxy and they land on this planet that is filled with strip malls. And whenever they go into one of the stripmalls there are forced in a way to go to the bathroom but little di they know they where killer toilets. This book only counts as one book but its a quick and easy read I would recommend this book to anyone whos looking for a laugh.

[Annabelle.H · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is a good book, maybe if you are not in 8th grade having your teacher reading it to you. it is kind of boring but it is a quick read and it is easy.

[Jacqui · Rating 2 out of 5]

We read this as a read allowed in my ela class (not my choice). It was the stupidest book ever and made no sense at all but I somehow enjoyed it.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't a good book really, but it had a funny story

[Kevin]

Two people named Rocket and Groot crashed there plane at a place called the strip mall.At the strip mall there's a lot of stores and every time Groot and Rocket went inside a store the people always tell them they should go to the restroom.When Rocket and Groot went inside the bathroom the toilet tried eating them so they destroyed the restrooms and ran out.

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Guardians of the Galaxy and the idea of a middle grade chapter book based on these characters by someone like Tom Angleberger (who gets the whole fandom/nerd mentality perfectly) is awesome. The execution is a little...sloppier than the Origami Yoda books, which is partially by design, and the overall plot is crazy enough to appeal to the age group even if it seems absurd to my adult eyes.

Still, keeping in mind the overall context (and truly hilarious end swerve), this is a solid read for those kids too young for traditional comics but too old for basic stuff. It's really almost sure to be a deserving hit.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Galley received from Edelweiss.
This one is going to be a huge hit with the 5th and 6th graders- especially the Origami Yoda and Jedi Academy fans. Can't wait to order it.

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once this book was picked for our period 7 ELA class I wasn't as interested as I was for the rest of the ones picked. As much as I want a book that I can get up on the wall chart fast, I also wanted on that was engaging. When I saw this book I didn't vote for it. As our class made progress through this book it started to get more interesting. It also helped that someone in our class narrates the "I AM GROOT" parts. If you read this book you will find many points in the book where toilets are trying to eat them. Also, if you'll get near the end of the book you will find that they fight a giant sewer monster that lives on the inside of the planet. Overall this book was goofy and funny at quite a few different points. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to laugh and read an easy book. I rated this book four out of five stars.

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob) · Rating 3 out of 5]

We did not finish this. I selected this for my daughter to read as she did like Guardians of the Galaxy. She made it around halfway through and then was just done with it. It really tries to be funny, but, the funny isn't quite funny enough to pull off the somewhat limited plot. I'm not going to hate on it either though, if my daughter was a bit older and a faster reader she probably would have finished it before getting bored with it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rocket Raccoon and Groot are two of my favorite characters. I thought this chapter book nailed their personalities. And the plot had me laughing out loud. I need to find a copy of the next one in the series.

[Robyn Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 9 year old shared this book with me after he read it and loved it. He said the second one is even better. I treated myself to this fun read in small doses to make it last. Nothing like reading for a few minutes and laughing your butt off.

[Ethen C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not like this book because it was boring. I really have nothing to say about it. I think thrust it was to childish for me.

[Caleb S · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a pretty fun book

[Aydin Ahmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read.quite funny

[Nico · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rocket and Groot by Tom Angleberger was alright, it had lots of pictures, and the story was in captain logs mostly. I know it was supposed to be badly drawn illustrations, but at least the illustrator should have added better illustrations. It’s kind of a lower level book, and very easy, so I would recommend it for kids in elementary school. The humor is the story was not as good as it could have been. So, basically Rocket and Groot from The Guardians of The Galaxy crash land on a unpopulated planet after a battle, and desperately need the basic elements for human life, food, water, etc. On the down side everything on the planet is trying to kill them, but they find out a monster is controlling it and since it poses a threat they have to eliminate it. They end up launching it into space, and they all found a space ship and flew off the planet. The monster got caught in the middle of the battle, and ate the opposing members. The monster thanked the guardians and let them go. The book didn’t really remind me of another story, and how it was built was very unique. I really liked the drawing that Groot drew, it was extremely detailed unlike the other ones.

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finishing this book is a testament to how much I love my son. He thoroughly enjoyed this book!

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

STRANDED ON PLANET STRIP MALL by Tom Angleberger is the first chapter book in the new Rocket and Groot trilogy for middle grade readers.

Rocket Raccoon and his giant plant sidekick Groot have crash landed on a planet that’s a giant strip mall. Filled with slapstick comedy, this unlikely duo face raccoon-eating toilets, bizarre robots, and other strange shopping related hazards. This wacky adventure features non-stop action for fans of silliness and the galaxy’s most dangerous super intelligent tape dispenser.

Librarians will find fans of Angleberger’s Origami Yoda books flocking for this new science fiction trilogy. The book will appeal to reluctant readers who enjoy the varied fonts and small chunks of text interwoven with simple artwork. With the popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics and movies, this title with be popular with younger readers who want to feel connected to this media franchise.

Published by Disney-Marvel on March 8, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

[Joseph Sanchez · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow...this book is terrible. Toilets that eat guests? Rocket and Groot are partners with a tape dispenser? Angleberger takes two beloved characters, Rocket and Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, and places them in one of the stupidest settings ever...a strip mall run by robots who only want you to use their bathrooms. "Now be a good little rodent and GO POTTY!" I am sure there is a kid out there who really likes this, but as for me? No. Don't buy this book. It's not even good for elementary school kids.

[Collin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was so much fun. I had a bad dream, woke up early, and couldn't go back to sleep. But I had gotten this from the library and it was just sitting there, waiting to make me feel better. I love Groot and I love Rocket, and I even loved their little sidekick Veronica.

Of course it's a kid book, but it's still entertaining, and it got quite a few laughs out of me. I especially liked Groot's drawing at the end. I hope there are more of these books.

[Niobe Villalobos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rocket and Groot: Stranded on Planet Strip Mall! by Tom Anglerger is an awesome and funny book. It is about Rocket and Groot trying to find ways to get out of a rather unusual planet. Like for example finding a space ship to blast them off to their normal planet. But it's not going to be easy when toilets are trying to eat them left and right. I recommend this book to people that like the movie Guardians of the Galaxy.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you get when Captain Underpants gets taken over by Marvel? You get Rocket and Groot stranded on Planet Strip Mall. It is a fun book for younger readers with lots of toilet humor. But it is all in good fun. I can not wait for book 2.