The Legend of Vinny Whiskers

by Gregory Kemp

Boomerang Lookout is the smallest ?kit? in his litter. Worse, he is also named after one of the infamous ?Lost Six,? a group of prairie dogs who left the Ward, their home, and never returned. When young Boomer decides to venture outside the Ward, he learns the real story of his namesake. The original Boomerang Lookout was the first king of The Tubes, an underground city populated by a band of small animal species bound together by a union called the Alignment of the Wee. But when control of the Tubes was passed to the rat Vinny Whiskers, the Wee were betrayed and evicted from their underground Eden by an army of rats. Ever since, the Wee have searched for a way to win back their home. When a young prairie dog emerges with a legendary name, a showdown between the Alignment of the Wee and the Rat Nation seems inevitable.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Young Adult

252 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2009

About the author

Gregory Kemp, a native Floridian, was born in 1971. He currently lives in Germantown, MD. When he's not writing, he spends a lot of time building a mountain cabin in WV, running, and playing soccer. In his former life, he was an engineer and U.S. Navy Diver.

Kemp's Young Adult Novel, The Legend of Vinny Whiskers, was the inaugural winner in the fiction category of the WEbook.com Vote, an online competition where a community of writers, readers and reviewers nominate and vote their favorite projects into publication. The Legend of Vinny Whiskers was published in 2009.

His most recent novel is a far cry from Vinny Whiskers. Released in November 2012, Undercover in Afghanistan is an absurd account of a US President personally leading a 2010 mission to kill Osama bin Laden.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC received through the First Reads giveaway program.

This is a coming-of-age adventure story about a prairie dog named Boomerang Lookout, known as Boomer. Boomer lives in the Ward with the rest of his colony. When his best friend (and love interest?) Punky is kidnapped by rats while they are exploring an unknown tunnel with a third prairie dog named Mr. Thin Fur, Boomer embarks on a quest to rescue his friend and realize his destiny.

There were some very creative elements in this book. The author definitely caught me by surprise when he revealed what the Ward is. I loved the idea of the Tubes, too. Despite that, I don't think this is one of the best books of this type. The story felt derivative--specifically it reminded me of Redwall, which was one of my favorite books when I was a kid. Some of the dialogue was a little cheesy. Granted, I have a very low tolerance for that sort of thing, so I may be somewhat biased on that front. I also didn't like the swearing. This isn't out of an objection to swearing in general. I don't mind reading it, or doing it myself. Although most of it was mild, it felt very forced--especially since it seemed to be more frequent (and intense) as the story progressed. The juxtaposition of an attempt at edginess with the language and the cutesiness of the names and mannerisms of the characters grated on me.

The biggest problem I had with this book is a little hard to pin down exactly. Some elements just didn't seem to fit, or were confusing. The scene with the disguises felt too convenient. The description of Mr. Thin Fur's "rotini-shaped hair sprout" seemed odd. How do the prairie dogs know what rotini is? Is the narrator omniscient? If so, the omniscience didn't seem to be a constant. Are the Chip-Monks members of some sort of order or society? If not, why are they called that, and where did they learn what they know? Things like this frustrate me, and they really detracted from the experience.

This is a fine coming of age/adventure story for its intended audience; ages 8-12 or thereabouts. The bar for this genre is set pretty high for me. I read and loved Redwall, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, and Watership Down when I was that age, and all animal adventure stories I have read since are compared to those.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being released today is a new book for tweens by Gregory Kemp titled The Legend of Vinny Whiskers. It follows the adventures of Boomerang Lookout, a prairie dog who just doesn't seem to fit in among the other prairie dogs in "the ward". Part of the problem is that he's named after an infamous prairie dog, one of the "lost six" who escaped the ward never to return. When Boomer decides to venture out of the ward himself he comes face to face with dangers and truths about himself and his home that he never anticipated. There is a long-standing feud between the Alignment of the Wee, a group of small animals who have banded together in hopes of one day regaining the control of "the tubes", and the rats, who took over the tubes years earlier led by Vinny Whiskers who opened the tubes to the sewer rats.

The Legend of Vinny Whiskers is a hilarious romp into the lives of these small creatures. It raises the question of the true meaning of freedom and how much one is willing to risk in the search for truth. Never short on adventure, kids will love reading about Boomer and the friends (and enemies) he meets along the way. There's even a shocking twist. Depending on reading level, I would recommend this book for ages 9-12. It's 243 pages and very well written.

The book can be purchased at Amazon or Webook. This is the first work of fiction published by Webook, an on-line social collaboration site for writers. The book was voted #1 on the site by Webook readers. This a great opportunity for aspiring writers. They liken themselves to American Idol for writers, but on a more modest scale of course. Gregory Kemp was involved with another Webook project, 101 Things Every Man Should Know How to Do.

I would recommend this book to your tween for some fun summer reading. I kept thinking too that this story would make a great movie for kids. I was picturing the animation coming to life while I was reading.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really certain what I should say about this book. I liked it. There were a few typos, but nothing hideously hideous. I liked that Boomer decided not to keep the hero-winnings he was given; sharin' the love is always friendly. I'm not so sure I liked how tidily everything wrapped up. I liked how the war involved deaths on all sides, not just one; sometimes books geared towards younger readers let all the permanent bad stuff, like death, happen only to the people we don't like. I don't think I liked how Bob Lemming was all pessimistic and prejudiced. Realistic though it may be, he got to be kind of a broken record. Though I think it would be interesting to see a spin-off type of story about the legend of Bob Lemming's ancient ancestor who flew. I liked the different ideas about animals posed by the author, like lemmings aren't gigantically stupid creatures that jump off cliffs; they're hypothesizing that, by jumping off the cliff, they're encouraging their evolutionary next step, which is flight.

And the squirrels were my favorite. Why is it that the supporting characters are always way funner than the main characters?

I received a free copy through FirstReads in exchange for an honest review.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from a giveaway here on goodreads. It took me a while to get to on the TBR pile, but I have to say, it really was a fun book to read. Talking animals is a great theme, but you have to be really careful not to go too cute or too cheesy with it. The world was well developed, the society and minor characters all fit well, and while the threads of 'Watership Down' and 'Redwall' were very visible, it wasn't really a distraction, which surprised me. Normally when I can make instant comparisons to other books, specifically books I like, it bugs me so much I grumble the whole time. But in this case, the similarities felt like an homage to the greats, not a direct copy. Prairie Dogs are a nice animal to pick, but really it would have been nice to have something other than rats for enemies. I mean seriously, how many more times can this be done? Character-wise, I felt a little distant to the characters most of the time, sometimes really puzzled by them and the things they did, it was hard to get a grip on them. But really, the adventure, the story and the lovely writing was the focus of this story. Read it for the adventure alone.

[morninglightmama · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a bit to get into the story, but that was really just because I was being kinda dense about the setting. Once the author really laid that out for the slow readers (me!), then things started falling into place. This was immensely creative, and the characteristics of the different animal characters were picture perfect. The story line is a classic one of a group of seemingly different groups coming together to work for the common good against the forces of the selfish bad guys. Only in an animal setting that is quite familiar to most of us. I'll just leave it at that for you. I'm somewhat torn about letting my almost-9 year old read it... I'm leaning toward most likely, but there is just a little bit of language near the very end that I wish was toned down a tad.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story teaches some great life lessons. In the book, the small animals join together to defeat a common foe and one small prairie dog goes from being discounted by the others to being a hero.

I'm glad that I won this book at goodreads.com. It is a children's book, written for ages 8-12. My only worry is the length of the book. It's a little long, but it tells a great story, so I don't know what I would cut. I enjoyed reading it and am passing it along to my 10 year old son. I will post his review when he finishes.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being my first pre-release book I won on firstreads I was really excited to read this book. After finishing it I can honestly say that it is wonderfully unique! How many books have you read where the protagonist is a prairie dog? Boomerang Lookout, named after a famous prairie dog, feels anything but heroic. Truly a fish out of water, Boomer leaves his home and finds adventure, quirky characters, and the famous Boomerang Lookout's real story. This book is surprisingly easy to relate to and good fun! Four stars.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Vinny Whiskers and recommend it for readers of all ages. The storytelling is tight, the action is fun and fierce but appropriate for younger readers and the characters are well-developed. Overall a highly entertaining read that finally gives prarie dogs and other under-represented small mammals their due.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a prairie dog named Boomer, and his friends Punky, and Mr Thinfur. And their wonderful adventure. It is a coming of age story as it were for Boomer who is a larger than life hero inspite of himself. I especially enjoy the chip-monks Kung an Fu, and Bob Lemming. It's a rollicking story of bravery and learning.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun story (there simply aren't enough books out there with a prairie dog for a protagonist, right?)! Short chapters, unique characters and some clever language play made this a quick and fast-paced read. This animal adventure is in the same vein as Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh (though not quite Watership Down).

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! A smart, thoughtful book for young readers. Rats, prairie dogs, and other small animals brought to life in great detail, with a compelling good vs. evil and living up to your ancestry plot line. Check it out.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something about rodents swearing that I love. Anyway, this book was better than most crap published by all the mainstream publishing houses. If you love prairie dogs (and who doesn't?) buy a copy of this immediately. You will LOVE IT!

[Janene]

Another First Reads Win! Yay! Looks like a fun book! Will keep you posted. =)

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was actually really disappointed with this book. After reading other fantastic reviews I suppose I expected a lot more. I thought it was dry and lacked a natural flow about it.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really had a hard time getting into this book. It has a great animal story, but very slow. The chapters are short, and this would make a good read aloud book. Overall it is okay.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author sent me this book for review, and it was amazing! It left me so satisfied and happy. I will definitely read it again.