Running in Flip-Flops From the End of the World

It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit #2

by Justin A. Reynolds

A hilarious middle-grade from justin a. reynolds that What happens when five unsupervised kids face the apocalypse under outrageously silly circumstances? When twelve-year-old Eddie Gordon Holloway and his friends are left home from Beach Bash, aka the greatest party of the year, only to realize that everyone in town has disappeared without a trace, they do what any smart, responsible kids would do . . . have the best day ever! No parental supervision sounds fun for a while, but forever is a long time. And soon the gang starts to notice strange things happening around town, and they’re only getting stranger. They have to figure out what happened to their families. It seems like getting to the beach will answer all their questions . . . but the only problem is that some mysterious force seems determined to prevent them from making it there. Eddie knows that this is a clear sign -- obviously they should be focused on having as much fun as possible for as long as possible. But everyone deals with the fear differently, and soon the friendships begin to fracture. Can Eddie find a way to get all his friends on the same page? And will they ever make it to the beach?

Genres: Middle Grade, Humor, Fiction, Dystopia, Juvenile, Audiobook

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2024

About the author

justin 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!

Reviews

[Matt Glaviano · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

Quite disappointing. Let's just say that if you want to know what's happening in the world around Eddy and his friends... well, you're still going to be waiting.

Reynolds doesn't give readers enough narrative crumbs to make it feel like the story is moving forward. This book - which ends quite literally in the same place it starts - doesn't give enough tantalizing clues to build tension (or, frankly, to keep the reader interested). It just meanders until it fizzles out.

That's not right - there's no fizzle. It's like you lit a match to set something ablaze - to give that something the possibility of fizzling out - and then were just like, you know, nah, and blew out the match.

(Oooh, that's vaguely existential. Can I take it further? This book - a little bit - made me think of Camus' the Plague. That book has a bunch of characters waiting around, dealing with the end of the world in ways that reflect their personalities. I like that idea for this book, too. That we see the choices Reynolds characters make when confronted by an unknowable and impossible situation. Hoarding, creating maximum fun, etc. OK, back to not sounding like a pretentious asshole.)

I get that Eddy meanders as a narrator (and as a personality). And Reynolds deserves credit for the emotional moments in this story that reunite the friends; those are well done, even if they really just get the book back on track to where it should have gone from the start.

Ultimately, though, it's just too little to make it worthwhile. No reason springs to mind why the first two books couldn't be tightened the hell up and melded into a single volume. Worst of all? There aren't enough clues offered to make me think that the author even knows where the story is going, or what's causing the end of the world part of the title. Please call my bluff, Mr. Reynolds, because I feel like I wasted my time on this.

[Laura Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the 1st book but I'm gretting frustrated that we aren't solving the mystery

[Claudia Reid · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another read aloud to my students. The ending was TERRIBLE. Left us on another cliff hanger. They were so disappointed lol. My students gave this 0 stars.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny and fun second book in a series about five middle schoolers suddenly finding themselves to be the only people around. Everyone else has disappeared. It's written almost in stream-of-conscious centering Eddie, a young kid with ADHD who hides being scared by having as much fun as possible. The kids are trying to make it to the beach to see if their parents are there (because they were all heading out on a beach trip), but weird and scary things keep happening to the car Eddie inexpertly drives.

I will check out the third book!

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddie Gordon Holloway is having the strangest summer of his 12 years. After having to stay home from the town’s biggest summer party, the Beach Bash, to do his laundry after putting it off for weeks, Eddie and four friends who also hadn’t gone to the beach got stuck in what just may be the end of the world.

Most everyone in town had gone to the Beach Bash, including the parents of Eddie and his friends. And then there was a giant flash in the sky, over the beach. The town lost power, and the kids couldn’t reach their parents on the beach. No one was answering the phone. Eddie and his four friends found themselves alone, so they camped out together to stay safe until they figured out what had happened.

They had two main goals at first: to gather enough supplies to survive, with style, and to get to the beach to try to figure out what happened. So when they had what they felt they needed, they decided that Eddie should drive them to the beach. He carefully pulled WBD’s car out of the garage and he started driving to the beach. Who is WBD? He’s the guy who has been spending time with his mom, aka Wanna Be Dad. Eddie still felt loyal to his read dad, who had died, so he’s reluctant to go all in on WBD. But he is glad that he left his car in their garage.

Does 12-year-old Eddie know how to drive? Well, enough to get around okay on roads that are otherwise empty. But as soon as they all pile in the car and head towards the beach, they can only make it so far before something stops them. They try several times, and each time, they are stopped. After several days of this, most of Eddie’s friends don’t even want to try anymore. There are too many strange things going on, and their spirits are low. Eddie feels like it’s up to him to bring his friends back together as a team, but his first efforts fail. Will he be able to figure out a way to bring them together so they can figure out just what’s going on in their town?

Running in Flip-Flops From the End of the World is the continuation to last summer’s It’s the End of the World and I’m in My Bathing Suit. Author Justin A. Reynolds has kept this story going with humor, creativity, and heart. The voice of this series is Eddie, and he is not at all shy at talking directly to readers, keeping young minds engaged in the story.

Last year, I got an early copy of It’s the End of the World to read, and I really liked it, except for the huge cliffhanger at the end. So as soon as I saw the next book released, I had to grab it to find out more. And I did, but this story is still not over, so I’ll be back for the next one too. These books are fascinating and compelling as these kids try to figure out what’s going on and how to fix what’s wrong. But there is also a sense of a found family with these kids, and a sense of responsibility and togetherness as they try to survive what may be the end of the world. I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next book.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following the first book, we jump right into what Eddie and his friends are doing at the end of the world. They have stocked supplies, exercised, and developed a plan to get to the beach to find the rest of the town. However, mysterious things start happening to keep them from the beach. Each of the five members of the team work through the frustration in their own ways. The reader follows Eddie, who puts his energy into having the most fun he possibly can.

Can Eddie fix the riff that the frustration has caused in the group? Will they ever find the rest of the town?

Loved this book and the vernacular a.k.a. slang (thanks to the Three Stooges for this vocabulary word) that kids will completely understand. Eddie can get a little long-winded in his explanations but that will make kids with A.D.H.D. (and even some adults like me) feel seen.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddie and his friends are back trying to figure out where everybody – the entire town’s population that is – has disappeared to. They keep trying to drive to the beach where everyone had been headed but flat tires, scary noises, and plain old fear keep holding them back. Meanwhile they find epic ways to entertain themselves – ice cream sundaes in swimming pools, zip lines through their neighborhood, and camping out. Fun and funny.

[Patrick Schott · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried, but 20 pages in and I was constantly skipping over the little asides Eddie would have- they went nowhere and added very little to the story. They were like talking to someone who can’t keep the thread of a conversation and shares every thought that pops into their head; it was exhausting just reading them.

I think there is a good story to be found in this good idea, but it shouldn’t be this frustrating to read a book.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Since the first book ended on such a cliff hanger, I was hoping that this would jump right into what was going on with the missing families, but Eddie embraced his ADHD related pell mell prose from the first book and rambled on and on during his recap. There wasn't as much laundry, but otherwise the style was very similar to the first book.

[Evo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good read!

[Julia Becker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the first book, I feel meh. But, I'm not a middle schooler, and, I would still like to read the next installation.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Super disappointed that there’s no real movement in the narrative.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s getting a little frustrating not to have any answers at this point

[Patrick Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end was mind blowing!

Where are the kids family and why is The Bronster alone and tried to hit them with a car!!! Why can’t they get to the beach!!! SO EXCITED FOR BOOK 3. I HOPE IT COMES OUT SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, since this book is so different from the first one, it's impossible for me to estimate how many books will be in this series. I have the feeling that Scholastic is trying to milk this series for book fairs, meaning we'll get a dozen or so books with diminishing returns in plot progression until similar diminishing returns on book fair sales forces the publisher to cancel the series.

https://pussreboots.com/blog/2024/com...

[Gargee Kale · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 ⭐️

[Jessica Pyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to get to the story when the character just runs his stream of consciousness. 3 pages to tell me he hasn't told me anything, 2 pages to tell me he's looking at something, and on, and on is pretty frustrating.