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Return to Augie Hobble
Augie Hobble lives in a fairy tale―or at least Fairy Tale Place, the down-on-its-luck amusement park managed by his father. Yet his life is turning into a he's failed creative arts and has to take summer school, the girl he has a crush on won't acknowledge him, and Hogg Wills and the school bullies won't leave him alone. Worse, a succession of mysterious, possibly paranormal, events have him convinced that he's turning into a werewolf. At least Augie has his notebook and his best friend Britt to confide in―until the unthinkable happens and Augie's life is turned upside down, and those mysterious, possibly paranormal, events take on a different meaning.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2015
11 people are currently reading
704 people want to read
About the author
Lane Smith
107 books347 followersLane Smith was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but moved to Corona, California at a young age. He spent summers in Tulsa, however, and cites experiences there as inspirations for his work, saying that "[o]nce you've seen a 100-foot cement buffalo on top of a donut-stand (sic) in the middle of nowhere, you're never the same."
He studied art in college at the encouragement of his high school art teacher, helping to pay for it by working as a janitor at Disneyland. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration, and moved to New York City, where he was hired to do illustrations for various publications including Time, Mother Jones, and Ms..
Smith is married to Molly Leach, who is a book designer and designed the Smith/Scieszka collaboration.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/lanesmith
He studied art in college at the encouragement of his high school art teacher, helping to pay for it by working as a janitor at Disneyland. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration, and moved to New York City, where he was hired to do illustrations for various publications including Time, Mother Jones, and Ms..
Smith is married to Molly Leach, who is a book designer and designed the Smith/Scieszka collaboration.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/lanesmith
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
June 21, 2015
Here is what we can say about Lane Smith – he does not go for the easy emotional pass. There are countless author/illustrators out there for whom risk is an unknown concept. The idea of writing a book, to say nothing of your first middle grade novel, and making something new and strange of it, would put them off entirely. For Smith, it’s all in a day’s work. Indeed he’s made a name for himself in waltzing merrily into the children’s literary unknown. Had he debuted his first novel and it had been some earnest and meaningful tale of a slightly bullied boy who is dealing with a death and befriends the local pixie dream girl who teaches him to love again (currently the most popular plot in 2015 as long as you occasionally switch up the genders) then his fans would have felt a deep sense of betrayal. That said, to avoid the falsely “meaningful” by creating a book devoid of meaning is a step too far in the opposite direction. A little meaning is the glue that holds even the silliest and most esoteric work for kids together. In Return to Augie Hobble Lane Smith embraces that which makes him Lane Smith. Yet while he is clearly unafraid to take risks and try new things, he seems oddly reticent to give his creation a true and beating heart. Does it need one? That’s a question best answered by each individual reader.
Augie Hobble hasn’t the worst life you’ve ever heard of, but on a scale of sucks to ten it scores fairly low. It’s one thing to have to go to summer school because you can’t seem to finish one crummy school project. It’s another thing entirely to be convinced that you’re turning into a werewolf. Working in his dad’s run down fairy tale theme park (called, appropriately enough, “Fairy Tale Place”) Augie at least has his best friend Britt and their mutual intention of building a tree house to distract him. But things are not always what they seem. Pets are disappearing, there are some weird government agents flitting about, and then mysterious writing appears in Augie’s notebook from an unknown hand. Mysteries of this sort can be hard to come by. And when the true story behind the mysteries comes to light, the truth is clearly stranger than any fiction Augie could have imagined.
This is Smith’s first foray into the middle grade world but it’s hardly his first time playing with expectations and forms. His work on Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man remain to this day original, eclectic, and odd. But watching Smith pen his own books been interesting. It’s little wonder that he was at least partially behind the blog Curious Pages “recommended inappropriate books for kids” with a big old picture of Struwwelpeter standing at the top. His picture books have ranged from a diatribe against the electronic world (ending with a word that gave a certain sort of parents apoplexy) to American history gone goofy to a meditative consideration of a life well spend (topiary in abundance). The aberration amongst these books, if it could be called that, was the last book I mentioned, Grandpa Green. In that book Smith slowed his rapid rate, and took stock of life and living. It seems that with “Return to Augie Hobbie” he is now returning to his fast paced existence with a vengeance.
There’s a lot to enjoy about the book, starting with the setting itself. For a time I decided to gather together all the information I could about all the children’s literature related statues in America. Little did I expect that this search would plunge me into an unexpected exploration of fairy tale and nursery rhyme themed parks for kids that preceded and existed in tandem with early Disneyland, only on a much smaller, creepier, scale. So many of them continue to operate today, and so they were pretty much tailor made for an eerie, unnerving book of this sort. If you were to create a book that was essentially “The X-Files” for kids, I can think of no better setting.
It will surprise few to learn that Smith is at his strongest when he’s at his creepiest. And in terms of creepy thrills, there’s an early mystery in the novel that taps into something fearful and primal at our core. Augie keeps a journal with him most of the time. After he experiences a shocking loss he finds to his consternation that someone is scribbling in his beloved book. Suspects abound but the writing itself turned out to be my favorite part of the story. There is true horror in misspelled childlike crawls. If it doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up on end then you are made of sterner stuff than I.
Interestingly, it was Smith’s exploration of death that took me out of the book the most. A couple spoilers are going to start cropping up in this review so if you haven’t already signed off and you want to be surprised then I suggest you do so now. When Augie’s best friend Britt dies of an allergic reaction to peanuts, he becomes convinced that he himself is the accidental murderer. Augie is plunged into guilt and when it looks as though his friend’s ghost is somewhere near I wondered where Smith was going. Could the ghost just be an extension of Augie’s guilt? Nope. And all of a sudden Britt’s appearance wipes away what had all the promise of an interesting look at guilt and grief and coping. Not that I wanted this to turn into some introspective Newbery-esque treatise on the healing powers of family or anything. I mean there are friggin’ werewolves in them thar hills. But by the same token I was uncomfortable with how something that was so serious for a second became altogether too light too quickly. All I really wanted was a single moment between the two boys that felt real. Like they understood what their new roles were and had decided to take them on. Even the silliest book has room enough for a little heart, however brief. To excise it from the storyline does the title a disservice.
The other difficulty I had with the book involved the ways in which the central mysteries are solved. And it happened anytime the fantastical moved out of the possible into the real. Now I’ll be the first to admit that you cannot create a work of fiction built entirely on mysteries and mysterious occurrences without eventually saying what’s going on. A book that’s all mystery and no answer is simply a cheat. On the other hand, it takes an enormous amount of talent to reveal a mystery without inspiring in your audience that feeling of deflation that comes whenever a magician explains how he did a trick. The fact of the matter is that while Smith is exceedingly talented at setting up his mysteries, once they crossover from mystery to reality, they lose something. The first time this happens is when a character turns into a werewolf before our very eyes. Until that moment, we’ve had no absolute proof that there’s anything more than wishful thinking on the part of the hero going on in terms of the story’s mysteries. In fact, the revelation is so unexpected that I was left wondering if maybe Smith changed his mind in the course of writing the book and decided to go whole hog on the fantasy elements. When he commits to the bit he commits to the bit, and after the werewolfing of a character everything is pretty much up for grabs. Examples.
I think what Smith may be going for in this book is an intellectual play on fantasy akin to Daniel Pinkwater and his books. The difference between the two lies in how Smith straddles the form. On the one hand he has moments that could break into genuine emotional beats if he’d let them. On the other, if he wanted to really let go and embrace his love of the absurd, there’s room for that as well. Instead, he commits to neither. Moments that should engage the reader’s heart are left feeling empty while the absurdities have a caged in, closed feel. To be frank, I either wanted this book to let Smith’s freak flag fly or to give my heart something to care about. In the end, I have neither.
By the end of the story I had to come to the conclusion that the only way this book makes any sense is if it’s the first in a series. If Fairy Tale Place is meant to be the backdrop to a wide range of freaky happenings, then this is just setting up the premise. Three kids, one of whom is dead, solving supernatural mysteries is interesting. Would that we could just jump to those books and skip this one in the interim. It’s by no means a bad book, but with its fuzzy focus and off-kilter sense of its own audience, I question how many kids are going to engage. A noble, if ultimately unbalance, attempt.
For ages 9-12
Augie Hobble hasn’t the worst life you’ve ever heard of, but on a scale of sucks to ten it scores fairly low. It’s one thing to have to go to summer school because you can’t seem to finish one crummy school project. It’s another thing entirely to be convinced that you’re turning into a werewolf. Working in his dad’s run down fairy tale theme park (called, appropriately enough, “Fairy Tale Place”) Augie at least has his best friend Britt and their mutual intention of building a tree house to distract him. But things are not always what they seem. Pets are disappearing, there are some weird government agents flitting about, and then mysterious writing appears in Augie’s notebook from an unknown hand. Mysteries of this sort can be hard to come by. And when the true story behind the mysteries comes to light, the truth is clearly stranger than any fiction Augie could have imagined.
This is Smith’s first foray into the middle grade world but it’s hardly his first time playing with expectations and forms. His work on Jon Scieszka’s The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man remain to this day original, eclectic, and odd. But watching Smith pen his own books been interesting. It’s little wonder that he was at least partially behind the blog Curious Pages “recommended inappropriate books for kids” with a big old picture of Struwwelpeter standing at the top. His picture books have ranged from a diatribe against the electronic world (ending with a word that gave a certain sort of parents apoplexy) to American history gone goofy to a meditative consideration of a life well spend (topiary in abundance). The aberration amongst these books, if it could be called that, was the last book I mentioned, Grandpa Green. In that book Smith slowed his rapid rate, and took stock of life and living. It seems that with “Return to Augie Hobbie” he is now returning to his fast paced existence with a vengeance.
There’s a lot to enjoy about the book, starting with the setting itself. For a time I decided to gather together all the information I could about all the children’s literature related statues in America. Little did I expect that this search would plunge me into an unexpected exploration of fairy tale and nursery rhyme themed parks for kids that preceded and existed in tandem with early Disneyland, only on a much smaller, creepier, scale. So many of them continue to operate today, and so they were pretty much tailor made for an eerie, unnerving book of this sort. If you were to create a book that was essentially “The X-Files” for kids, I can think of no better setting.
It will surprise few to learn that Smith is at his strongest when he’s at his creepiest. And in terms of creepy thrills, there’s an early mystery in the novel that taps into something fearful and primal at our core. Augie keeps a journal with him most of the time. After he experiences a shocking loss he finds to his consternation that someone is scribbling in his beloved book. Suspects abound but the writing itself turned out to be my favorite part of the story. There is true horror in misspelled childlike crawls. If it doesn’t make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up on end then you are made of sterner stuff than I.
Interestingly, it was Smith’s exploration of death that took me out of the book the most. A couple spoilers are going to start cropping up in this review so if you haven’t already signed off and you want to be surprised then I suggest you do so now. When Augie’s best friend Britt dies of an allergic reaction to peanuts, he becomes convinced that he himself is the accidental murderer. Augie is plunged into guilt and when it looks as though his friend’s ghost is somewhere near I wondered where Smith was going. Could the ghost just be an extension of Augie’s guilt? Nope. And all of a sudden Britt’s appearance wipes away what had all the promise of an interesting look at guilt and grief and coping. Not that I wanted this to turn into some introspective Newbery-esque treatise on the healing powers of family or anything. I mean there are friggin’ werewolves in them thar hills. But by the same token I was uncomfortable with how something that was so serious for a second became altogether too light too quickly. All I really wanted was a single moment between the two boys that felt real. Like they understood what their new roles were and had decided to take them on. Even the silliest book has room enough for a little heart, however brief. To excise it from the storyline does the title a disservice.
The other difficulty I had with the book involved the ways in which the central mysteries are solved. And it happened anytime the fantastical moved out of the possible into the real. Now I’ll be the first to admit that you cannot create a work of fiction built entirely on mysteries and mysterious occurrences without eventually saying what’s going on. A book that’s all mystery and no answer is simply a cheat. On the other hand, it takes an enormous amount of talent to reveal a mystery without inspiring in your audience that feeling of deflation that comes whenever a magician explains how he did a trick. The fact of the matter is that while Smith is exceedingly talented at setting up his mysteries, once they crossover from mystery to reality, they lose something. The first time this happens is when a character turns into a werewolf before our very eyes. Until that moment, we’ve had no absolute proof that there’s anything more than wishful thinking on the part of the hero going on in terms of the story’s mysteries. In fact, the revelation is so unexpected that I was left wondering if maybe Smith changed his mind in the course of writing the book and decided to go whole hog on the fantasy elements. When he commits to the bit he commits to the bit, and after the werewolfing of a character everything is pretty much up for grabs. Examples.
I think what Smith may be going for in this book is an intellectual play on fantasy akin to Daniel Pinkwater and his books. The difference between the two lies in how Smith straddles the form. On the one hand he has moments that could break into genuine emotional beats if he’d let them. On the other, if he wanted to really let go and embrace his love of the absurd, there’s room for that as well. Instead, he commits to neither. Moments that should engage the reader’s heart are left feeling empty while the absurdities have a caged in, closed feel. To be frank, I either wanted this book to let Smith’s freak flag fly or to give my heart something to care about. In the end, I have neither.
By the end of the story I had to come to the conclusion that the only way this book makes any sense is if it’s the first in a series. If Fairy Tale Place is meant to be the backdrop to a wide range of freaky happenings, then this is just setting up the premise. Three kids, one of whom is dead, solving supernatural mysteries is interesting. Would that we could just jump to those books and skip this one in the interim. It’s by no means a bad book, but with its fuzzy focus and off-kilter sense of its own audience, I question how many kids are going to engage. A noble, if ultimately unbalance, attempt.
For ages 9-12
May 12, 2015
Stuff I Read - Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith Review
This is a somewhat difficult book to review. Not because it's bad, per se, but because it tries to do an awful lot and, in the end, it's just not all that successful with all of it. I feel that, had this book picked one or two things that it wanted to be (say, a ghost story about grief and friendship and maybe bullying) that it would have been much more satisfying for me than it ended up being. Because as it is I think the book struggles to find itself and as such is constantly shifting, constantly trying to do more and more. Which is ambitious but, as I said, doesn't always hit the mark.
The premise is interesting enough. Augie is a kid who has some confidence problems. He's bullied and he thinks that all of his ideas are stupid so he sort of flits from thing to thing without really committing. I want to believe that maybe the craziness of the book is partly reflecting Augie's own rather ADD-fueled mental state, but it's not something that's ever really made clear. And, in this and with some other things, that lack of clarity hinders the book from being more. Sort of like with Britt, Augie's friend who is also bullied. He's rather effeminate and could definitely be read as gay or at least not straight. Indeed, some of the stuff that Britt says could be construed as him liking Augie as more than a friend. But as this is never really complicated or expounded on, it can't really count as something in the book's favor. Instead it's a dangling plot thread that's left unaddressed.
The book just tries to do way too much. At first it's a summer theme park/school story about a boy finding some confidence and creativity and maybe solving some easy werewolf-related mystery. Maybe like Goosebumps (weird theme park plus maybe paranormal plus school aged kids). But then the book takes a sharp turn and becomes a much more serious examination of death and guilt (maybe like Bridge to Tarabithia?). Then it becomes something else entirely when a ghost shows up to help Augie out and teach him to be more…assertive? And by that point it had kind of lost me.
Don't get me wrong, the voice of Augie is humorous and all the situation have some charm. The character work is fairly solid and there's definitely a lot going on. Add into that the graphic elements which are solid and engaging. I really did want to like this book more, to get into Augie's struggle. Instead I am left with a book that seems to be kicking off a series and which seems to offer no real answers in terms of the myriad questions it brings up. And okay, if it's a series maybe it will pay off on those down the line. Maybe it will do a good job of all of it. But this book didn't quite make me excited to keep going. While I wish Augie well in his adventures, I'm pretty sure this is as far as I'm willing to go along with him. A 4.5/10 for me.
This is a somewhat difficult book to review. Not because it's bad, per se, but because it tries to do an awful lot and, in the end, it's just not all that successful with all of it. I feel that, had this book picked one or two things that it wanted to be (say, a ghost story about grief and friendship and maybe bullying) that it would have been much more satisfying for me than it ended up being. Because as it is I think the book struggles to find itself and as such is constantly shifting, constantly trying to do more and more. Which is ambitious but, as I said, doesn't always hit the mark.
The premise is interesting enough. Augie is a kid who has some confidence problems. He's bullied and he thinks that all of his ideas are stupid so he sort of flits from thing to thing without really committing. I want to believe that maybe the craziness of the book is partly reflecting Augie's own rather ADD-fueled mental state, but it's not something that's ever really made clear. And, in this and with some other things, that lack of clarity hinders the book from being more. Sort of like with Britt, Augie's friend who is also bullied. He's rather effeminate and could definitely be read as gay or at least not straight. Indeed, some of the stuff that Britt says could be construed as him liking Augie as more than a friend. But as this is never really complicated or expounded on, it can't really count as something in the book's favor. Instead it's a dangling plot thread that's left unaddressed.
The book just tries to do way too much. At first it's a summer theme park/school story about a boy finding some confidence and creativity and maybe solving some easy werewolf-related mystery. Maybe like Goosebumps (weird theme park plus maybe paranormal plus school aged kids). But then the book takes a sharp turn and becomes a much more serious examination of death and guilt (maybe like Bridge to Tarabithia?). Then it becomes something else entirely when a ghost shows up to help Augie out and teach him to be more…assertive? And by that point it had kind of lost me.
Don't get me wrong, the voice of Augie is humorous and all the situation have some charm. The character work is fairly solid and there's definitely a lot going on. Add into that the graphic elements which are solid and engaging. I really did want to like this book more, to get into Augie's struggle. Instead I am left with a book that seems to be kicking off a series and which seems to offer no real answers in terms of the myriad questions it brings up. And okay, if it's a series maybe it will pay off on those down the line. Maybe it will do a good job of all of it. But this book didn't quite make me excited to keep going. While I wish Augie well in his adventures, I'm pretty sure this is as far as I'm willing to go along with him. A 4.5/10 for me.
November 11, 2019
This book has an interesting premise, but it just felt like the author waited too long to let the reader know that there was a ghost in the book. I don't think that I would have felt this way if the story had kept going, and the reader could have learned more about what it was like to be a ghost, etc. It felt like that the ghost was just thrown in at the last minute. All of the strange happenings could have been explained away in so many other ways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 14, 2015
Return To Augie Hobble by Lane Smith is a middle grade book with a little bit of everything: twisted fairy tales, werewolves, bullies, and humor. Augie works at Fairy Tale Place, owned by his parents, over the summer. He is also taking Creative Arts class again because he failed it. His best friend, Britt, helps him come up with ideas for his art project, mostly telling Augie his ideas in his idea book stink. As Augie struggles to come up with an idea, strange things start happening at Fairy Tale Place, including a werewolf. When Augie gets werewolf drool on himself after an encounter, he fears he is turning into a werewolf himself. As Augie worries about this, Britt goes on vacation with his family, so Augie has no one to talk to about werewolves. Then Augie's world takes an even darker turn.
Told with humor and heart, Augie struggles to create his art project, copes with guilt over his friend, and manages to deal with the bullies with some help from the "other side". This is a great story for fans of Lane Smith's other books as well as anyone who likes their humor a little bit twisted.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's publishing for the advance reading copy. Publication date is May 5, 2015.
Told with humor and heart, Augie struggles to create his art project, copes with guilt over his friend, and manages to deal with the bullies with some help from the "other side". This is a great story for fans of Lane Smith's other books as well as anyone who likes their humor a little bit twisted.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's publishing for the advance reading copy. Publication date is May 5, 2015.
June 5, 2017
This book was incredible! I had never heard of it before and as I paged through, I couldn't understand what "type" of book it is. The main character is a middle-school boy who draws comics and writes poems. All these are included as illustrations in the book. The story touches on multiple themes of friendship, school bullies, coming-of-age, adults roles toward children, facing tragedy, etc. This was a short read, but fully developed characters and extremely relevant and relatable plot line make it one that will be in my memory for a long time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2019
Lane Smith as an illustrator can put with a smile with his eye catching outlandish art, but as his story writing goes it’s very opposite. Centering on its protagonist Augie Hobble, he’s in a funk over his Creative Arts project while working at his father’s overly rundown amusement park, Fairy Tale Park. I like the concept, illustrations, characters, and that’s about it. Expecting a story full of humor and fantasy, it felt like a book that was lacking energy and excitement, felt slow moving, plot holes and just mainly bland like chopped liver. I’ll return it to you Augie, but first let me grade it for you. C- (42%/Below Average)
February 13, 2015
Funny, Ambitious, Strange, Wise and Touching
This is a marvelous and remarkable novel, and if you'll bear with me for a moment I'll tell you why I think that.
It starts out on a very predictable path as a summer school-daze middle grade comedy. Augie works at the family fairy tale themed amusement park, which is a bit worn out around the edges. Augie is a perceptive and good-humored kid for the most part. He's observant and as a narrator he's given to wry, deadpan and cleverly humorous asides. Mom and Dad are pretty together, Augie's best friend is a funny wise-acre, and the park employees are quirky, decent and fun. There are lots of very funny jokes and puns built around the park and its guests, and once we add a school bully and a possible love interest it seems that this book is going to just wander down a predictable, but still entertaining path, to a mellow pre-ordained upbeat conclusion.
That's where you would be wrong, because about one-quarter of the way in the book goes off the standard-middle-grade-comedy rails and at the half-way point we are well into an X-Files/magical realism/problem novel realm that you would never have seen coming.
MILD SPOILERS. At first it just looks like Augie's suspicions that things are amiss in "Fairy Tale Place" are a clever way to highlight or represent the challenges and insecurities that go with being a middle grader. But then we drift into concrete instances of something more than nerves and an overactive imagination being at work. Then a tragic event comes out of nowhere, and Augie has to come to grips with his "guilt" and his need for "punishment". Things get weirder and we go deeper into the rabbit hole before Augie finds the way out, the mundane and the fantastic mysteries are sorted out, and Augie is set back on the path of reality a sadder, wiser, older, but still funny, and re-energized, kid.
There is so much going on here, and it is handled with a light touch, a fast pace, and just a tremendous store of knowing grace and generosity on the author's part. Augie is a wonderfully appealing and decent and authentic hero, and every single character ends up with exactly what he or she deserves. The book feels sort of leisurely and scattered, but that is deceptive. It actually zips along as a middle grade read, is tightly plotted, and doesn't waste a line or a scene.
The upshot is that this book works as a tale that suggests real depth of feeling, but it also works as just a funny fantastic tale. You can read it to be entertained or to be intrigued or just to enjoy the snappy dialogue and funny set pieces. A book that works on so many levels for middle grade readers of greatly varying confidence and understanding is a real find, and one I am happy to encourage you, intrepid browser, to sample.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
This is a marvelous and remarkable novel, and if you'll bear with me for a moment I'll tell you why I think that.
It starts out on a very predictable path as a summer school-daze middle grade comedy. Augie works at the family fairy tale themed amusement park, which is a bit worn out around the edges. Augie is a perceptive and good-humored kid for the most part. He's observant and as a narrator he's given to wry, deadpan and cleverly humorous asides. Mom and Dad are pretty together, Augie's best friend is a funny wise-acre, and the park employees are quirky, decent and fun. There are lots of very funny jokes and puns built around the park and its guests, and once we add a school bully and a possible love interest it seems that this book is going to just wander down a predictable, but still entertaining path, to a mellow pre-ordained upbeat conclusion.
That's where you would be wrong, because about one-quarter of the way in the book goes off the standard-middle-grade-comedy rails and at the half-way point we are well into an X-Files/magical realism/problem novel realm that you would never have seen coming.
MILD SPOILERS. At first it just looks like Augie's suspicions that things are amiss in "Fairy Tale Place" are a clever way to highlight or represent the challenges and insecurities that go with being a middle grader. But then we drift into concrete instances of something more than nerves and an overactive imagination being at work. Then a tragic event comes out of nowhere, and Augie has to come to grips with his "guilt" and his need for "punishment". Things get weirder and we go deeper into the rabbit hole before Augie finds the way out, the mundane and the fantastic mysteries are sorted out, and Augie is set back on the path of reality a sadder, wiser, older, but still funny, and re-energized, kid.
There is so much going on here, and it is handled with a light touch, a fast pace, and just a tremendous store of knowing grace and generosity on the author's part. Augie is a wonderfully appealing and decent and authentic hero, and every single character ends up with exactly what he or she deserves. The book feels sort of leisurely and scattered, but that is deceptive. It actually zips along as a middle grade read, is tightly plotted, and doesn't waste a line or a scene.
The upshot is that this book works as a tale that suggests real depth of feeling, but it also works as just a funny fantastic tale. You can read it to be entertained or to be intrigued or just to enjoy the snappy dialogue and funny set pieces. A book that works on so many levels for middle grade readers of greatly varying confidence and understanding is a real find, and one I am happy to encourage you, intrepid browser, to sample.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
April 17, 2015
This is the summer that changes everything for Augie Hobble!
I don't want to spoil the plot of Lane Smith's fun first novel for the tweener crowd (you can read the gist below in "From the Publisher.") Suffice it to say, I think it will strike a chord with kids of most makes and models who find that, no matter what group they may identify with, making their way through those awkward middle school years can be a treacherous journey. Augie Hobble shows them the power of resilience, even in the toughest of circumstances.
The layout of the book is awesome! It includes bits from Augie's notebook in which he keeps notes and ideas for his Creative Arts project, due at the end of the summer. This addition keeps readers turning the pages for more and makes the story from the chapters really come alive.
Lane's sense of humor, the inclusion of quirky "carnie" type characters who work at the amusement park, questions of monsters and paranormal phenomena, encounters with the class bully and his toadie, and an unexpected twist with Augie's best friend, Britt, keep readers engaged in the story, eager to find out what happens next.
Return to Augie Hobble comes out in May. Your younger readers in the 8 to 12 year old range are sure to love it! (Especially boys!)
Thanks to ShefAwareness.com for the ARC in exchange for this review. This book was a fun break from my "normal" reading! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
From the Publisher . . .
Augie Hobble lives in a fairy tale-or at least Fairy Tale Place, the down-on-its-luck amusement park managed by his father. Yet his life is turning into a nightmare: he's failed creative arts and has to take summer school, the girl he has a crush on won't acknowledge him, and Hogg Wills and the school bullies won't leave him alone. Worse, a succession of mysterious, possibly paranormal, events have him convinced that he's turning into a werewolf. At least Augie has his notebook and his best friend Britt to confide in-until the unthinkable happens and Augie's life is turned upside down, and those mysterious, possibly paranormal, events take on a different meaning.
About the Author . . .
Lane Smith is the author and/or illustrator of several award-winning books for children. He is a two-time winner of the Caldecott Honor for Grandpa Green (2012) and The Stinky Cheese Man (1993). Four of his books have won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award and several of his books, including It's a Book, John, Paul George & Ben and Madam President have been New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestsellers. Mr. Smith has illustrated works by the likes of Bob Shea, Roald Dahl, Dr. Seuss, George Saunders, Judith Viorst, Florence Parry Heide, Jack Prelutsky and Eve Merriam. Some of his most popular books are with frequent collaborator, Jon Scieszka. Mr. Smith lives in Connecticut with his wife Molly Leach, an award-winning graphic designer. www.lanesmithbooks.com
I don't want to spoil the plot of Lane Smith's fun first novel for the tweener crowd (you can read the gist below in "From the Publisher.") Suffice it to say, I think it will strike a chord with kids of most makes and models who find that, no matter what group they may identify with, making their way through those awkward middle school years can be a treacherous journey. Augie Hobble shows them the power of resilience, even in the toughest of circumstances.
The layout of the book is awesome! It includes bits from Augie's notebook in which he keeps notes and ideas for his Creative Arts project, due at the end of the summer. This addition keeps readers turning the pages for more and makes the story from the chapters really come alive.
Lane's sense of humor, the inclusion of quirky "carnie" type characters who work at the amusement park, questions of monsters and paranormal phenomena, encounters with the class bully and his toadie, and an unexpected twist with Augie's best friend, Britt, keep readers engaged in the story, eager to find out what happens next.
Return to Augie Hobble comes out in May. Your younger readers in the 8 to 12 year old range are sure to love it! (Especially boys!)
Thanks to ShefAwareness.com for the ARC in exchange for this review. This book was a fun break from my "normal" reading! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
From the Publisher . . .
Augie Hobble lives in a fairy tale-or at least Fairy Tale Place, the down-on-its-luck amusement park managed by his father. Yet his life is turning into a nightmare: he's failed creative arts and has to take summer school, the girl he has a crush on won't acknowledge him, and Hogg Wills and the school bullies won't leave him alone. Worse, a succession of mysterious, possibly paranormal, events have him convinced that he's turning into a werewolf. At least Augie has his notebook and his best friend Britt to confide in-until the unthinkable happens and Augie's life is turned upside down, and those mysterious, possibly paranormal, events take on a different meaning.
About the Author . . .
Lane Smith is the author and/or illustrator of several award-winning books for children. He is a two-time winner of the Caldecott Honor for Grandpa Green (2012) and The Stinky Cheese Man (1993). Four of his books have won the New York Times Best Illustrated Book Award and several of his books, including It's a Book, John, Paul George & Ben and Madam President have been New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestsellers. Mr. Smith has illustrated works by the likes of Bob Shea, Roald Dahl, Dr. Seuss, George Saunders, Judith Viorst, Florence Parry Heide, Jack Prelutsky and Eve Merriam. Some of his most popular books are with frequent collaborator, Jon Scieszka. Mr. Smith lives in Connecticut with his wife Molly Leach, an award-winning graphic designer. www.lanesmithbooks.com
February 10, 2015
What can I say, I loved this book! Was it weird? Yes. Was it somewhat disjointed? Yes. Was I confused for most of it and not really sure what was actually going on? Yes and yes. However, the book pulled me in and kept me ensnared in this magical, fairy tale land.
Augie Hobble is a middle-school kid who works cleaning up trash at The Park: Fairy Tale Place, a past-its-prime attraction his father manages. Along with his best friend Britt Fairchild, Augie is just trying to get through the summer, finish his make-up Creative Arts project, avoid bullies, and perhaps gain the attention of the new Cinderella, Juliana. Throughout all of this, Augie is convinced that something strange, even otherwordly, is happening in Fairy Tale Place.
How can Augie finish his creative arts project in the midst of all this shenanigans? Will he ever figure out if he is actually turning into a werewolf? Liberally sprinkled with Smith's own illustrations, Return To Augie Hobble takes you on a crazy, strange, confusing, hilarious journey you won't want to miss!
[There were a few twists and turns throughout the story that confused me for a moment but the well-written prose brought me and my attention right back around. I found myself laughing out loud many times but something, and I won't say what, happened in the latter half of the book that threw me for a loop. I did not see it coming, thought it was going to ruin the whole mood of the book, but Lane Smith did the impossible: He turned a could-be tragedy into a crazy, funny plot. I definitely think this book will appeal to children in grades 3 & up.]
Augie Hobble is a middle-school kid who works cleaning up trash at The Park: Fairy Tale Place, a past-its-prime attraction his father manages. Along with his best friend Britt Fairchild, Augie is just trying to get through the summer, finish his make-up Creative Arts project, avoid bullies, and perhaps gain the attention of the new Cinderella, Juliana. Throughout all of this, Augie is convinced that something strange, even otherwordly, is happening in Fairy Tale Place.
How can Augie finish his creative arts project in the midst of all this shenanigans? Will he ever figure out if he is actually turning into a werewolf? Liberally sprinkled with Smith's own illustrations, Return To Augie Hobble takes you on a crazy, strange, confusing, hilarious journey you won't want to miss!
[There were a few twists and turns throughout the story that confused me for a moment but the well-written prose brought me and my attention right back around. I found myself laughing out loud many times but something, and I won't say what, happened in the latter half of the book that threw me for a loop. I did not see it coming, thought it was going to ruin the whole mood of the book, but Lane Smith did the impossible: He turned a could-be tragedy into a crazy, funny plot. I definitely think this book will appeal to children in grades 3 & up.]
August 3, 2015
Augie Hobble's father runs a second-rate amusement park based on fairy tales, and Augie is Trash Boy. He and his best friend Britt are regular targets for bullies, which doesn't stop during the summer. Augie has also failed a major creative project which he must redo over the summer, but his ideas come to nothing. There is something mysterious going on at the park and in the nearby woods, though--something to do with wolves. Is it someone in the wolf costume from the park, or is something more supernatural going on? Then tragedy strikes out of nowhere, and all the bizarre elements of Augie's life come together in a series of adventures no one could have predicted.
I just did not get this book at all. It felt flat and bizarre, and I just couldn't connect with it. The supernatural elements made no sense and didn't fit. I did like the inclusion of artwork and entries from Augie's journal, and thought his stories were very typically middle school boy, but other than that, this just didn't work for me. Famous writers have loved it so I'm probably just missing the point, and I will recommend this to kids to see if they connect with it better.
I just did not get this book at all. It felt flat and bizarre, and I just couldn't connect with it. The supernatural elements made no sense and didn't fit. I did like the inclusion of artwork and entries from Augie's journal, and thought his stories were very typically middle school boy, but other than that, this just didn't work for me. Famous writers have loved it so I'm probably just missing the point, and I will recommend this to kids to see if they connect with it better.
May 6, 2016
The story: Augie Hobble is a funny kid, but un-funny stuff keeps happening to him. Bullies, weird stuff at his dad's amusement park--and a possible run-in with not only a werewolf, but a ghost as well. Don't let the "day at the rundown old park" start fool you: this book goes directly from fort-building in the woods to possible werewolves howling at the moon, from buddy story to sucker-punch tragedy, and all the way back again.
June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; magic and the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (death of a close friend, guilt, paranormal action) PG; overall rating PG.
Liz's comments: This was a very strange book, and I found the approach to the unexpected tragedy in the middle of it a little hard to accept. Additionally, the story and its many moods shift so rapidly from place to place that kids reading it and expecting one kind of story may very well be left scratching their heads at the abrupt changes of focus. Give this one to kids who are not easily distracted or upset by outside-the-box thinking!
June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence PG; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; magic and the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (death of a close friend, guilt, paranormal action) PG; overall rating PG.
Liz's comments: This was a very strange book, and I found the approach to the unexpected tragedy in the middle of it a little hard to accept. Additionally, the story and its many moods shift so rapidly from place to place that kids reading it and expecting one kind of story may very well be left scratching their heads at the abrupt changes of focus. Give this one to kids who are not easily distracted or upset by outside-the-box thinking!
June 8, 2015
More like 2.5 stars....I think?
This...there was a lot going on here, and I'm not entirely sure it worked or even quite how I feel about it. I didn't know much about this going into it, past the fact that Augie's family owned a not-so-successful fairy tale park, and he had to make up a project for his creative arts class. That story would have been a great, funny, realistic fiction book with wide appeal.
However, this is not that book.
Sigh. Perhaps this just wasn't the book for me? And I had such excitement and high hopes for it!
This...there was a lot going on here, and I'm not entirely sure it worked or even quite how I feel about it. I didn't know much about this going into it, past the fact that Augie's family owned a not-so-successful fairy tale park, and he had to make up a project for his creative arts class. That story would have been a great, funny, realistic fiction book with wide appeal.
However, this is not that book.
Sigh. Perhaps this just wasn't the book for me? And I had such excitement and high hopes for it!
February 26, 2015
Lane Smith is well known for his clever, award-winning picture books and the popular Time Warp Trio chapter book series he co-authored. To my knowledge this is the first children's novel he's published. As one would expect, it is a bit out of the ordinary. A bit of mystery, some paranormal elements, themes of friendship and school problems and bullies are all mixed in with abandon. I find this book difficult to classify but delightful to read. The plot meandered a bit and I'm not sure why some things were included, but the ending seemed to hint at more to come so perhaps it will become clear in the next volume. I really liked the characters though and if a second Auggie Hobble book should appear I will enjoy hanging out with them again. You can't go wrong with a Lane Smith book.
January 1, 2016
If you live in a semi-rural area, you know those formerly wonderful amusement parks (usually themed) that have fallen on hard times as Six Flags and the lure of Disney have grown. Augie's family owns and operates one of those parks, and the depiction of the workers and "amusements" feels quite realistic. Poor Augie, having to work there all summer and forced to create a new art project so he can pass a failed class. He'd rather be hanging with his BFF or flirting (or attempting to flirt) with the new Cinderella. And I'll stop there, to avoid spoilers. Finding out how Augie's summer goes, was fun and funny (at times... read it and you'll see what I mean).
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
May 26, 2015
5 stars for the Lane Smith flavor and format - love when I find a book that makes reading less intimidating. These graphic/text hybrid books are so great to have filling up the collection. Kid tested, mother approved type stuff. 3 stars is more in relation to the actual storyline. The setting was great but the weird plot twists and the supernatural element felt out of place and odd to me. And how it carried on distracted me from the other elements that were really working. Probably just a personal taste thing but there are still scads of kids I can picture this working for and looking forward to having this one at hand during summer reading.
July 8, 2015
i got halfway through this book and wasn't motivated to finish it before it was due at the library. The story was fine and the protagonist was interesting, but there just wasn't anything particularly engaging about the book.
March 28, 2015
I predict this one will be polarizing. There's some good writing, but it doesn't tie together well, and for all its short length it took me over a week to read it.
April 20, 2018
I grabbed this one to add to my/my kiddo's Lane Smith collection, excited to see he now writes in addition to illustrating. I enjoyed the majority of this strange, entertaining ride and am happy to rate it four stars, though I have to say I completely understand the much lower ratings as well. This book tries to cover a lot, just really all over the place at times, and sometimes those elements conflict, or aren't handled as well as they could be. For example, the themes of are handled first with great darkness, depth, and realism, and then through a plot twist most of that is swept away. I'm not saying you can't treat those concepts with levity, but in this case more of a bridge or emotional exploration between the two phases would have been much appreciated, and I'm not sure I could ever give this book to a kid who was actually struggling with , even though in some places Smith really does hit perfect, heartfelt notes on that theme and others: bullying, friendship, family, identity, and growing up in general. Ultimately I'm ranking it high because of those many exquisite moments where he gets life so very right, and also because the setting, characters, humor, and of course illustrations are so fantastically done. It really is an entertaining and interesting story, and I look forward to more from him, as always.
May 28, 2017
'Return to Augie Hobble' by Lane Smith is a book that can't quite decide what it wants to be. Which is too bad, because I really like other things Lane Smith has done.
Augie Hobble has his father's strange amusement park to run around in. It's got names that sound familiar, but won't get his dad sued for swiping them. He's got a crush on a girl, a best friend, a bully that won't leave him alone, and a research paper that he can't decide what to do with.
As Augie wavers back and forth on what his project should be, it felt like exactly how this book got written. There are funny parts, and there are some tragic parts. Augie manages to grow through the process, but the tragic part feels really cheapened by it's lack of finality (or alternate finality, I suppose). There are a lot of things happening in this book, and some of them feel like they get shorted along the way, and that's too bad because I really wanted to like this one more.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.\
Augie Hobble has his father's strange amusement park to run around in. It's got names that sound familiar, but won't get his dad sued for swiping them. He's got a crush on a girl, a best friend, a bully that won't leave him alone, and a research paper that he can't decide what to do with.
As Augie wavers back and forth on what his project should be, it felt like exactly how this book got written. There are funny parts, and there are some tragic parts. Augie manages to grow through the process, but the tragic part feels really cheapened by it's lack of finality (or alternate finality, I suppose). There are a lot of things happening in this book, and some of them feel like they get shorted along the way, and that's too bad because I really wanted to like this one more.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.\
August 7, 2018
I LOVED this book. I'm a huge fan of Lane Smith's art and his picture books, so I just about lost it when I found out he had written a novel. This book is just as funny, surreal, and dark as you would expect, and extremely unpredictable in a very satisfying way. If you like any of Lane Smith's work, pick it up - you won't be disappointed.
February 10, 2019
I'm a huge Lane Smith fan and when I saw this book, my first reaction was "Yay!" For some reasons books that are more square than rectangular feel good in my hands. I do most of my reading at night and this was a two-nighter. I was not disappointed. Wordplay, off-the-wall characters, a setting as quirky as any. and werewolves. Wow! Thanks, Lane Smith!
August 19, 2019
To be honest, I genuinely enjoyed reading it, it definitely got some miseries that got me questioning while I was reading, but at the end, it seems like not all was explained well enough though. I really do like this book, I just wish it was explained better.
February 6, 2017
Absolutely enjoyed this book!! This book was incredibly enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of age!
June 23, 2019
The ending is odd. I felt like the author didn't know what type of book to write, so he put everything he could think of in the book.
January 28, 2020
What an interesting book. Parts I couldn’t read fast enough, heartbreak, humor, unexpected visitors, twists and turns I could barely keep up with. Like Fairy Tale Place, it’s weird, but cool.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2022
The story started out interesting and fun, but the second half just spiraled out of control. I would give the first half 3*’s but the second half only gets 1.
June 19, 2022
Couldn't really follow the storyline all to well but when it came to the twist it was good but very weird topics for a off brand fairytale book
May 18, 2023
Read it from our "Save these Books" display as it hadn't been checked out in a long time. I know why. Had potential but took a different turn than I'd expected.
October 14, 2025
Reading my son's favorite book taught me things about my son.
April 15, 2015
3.5 stars
Return to Auggie Hobble is a book that most readers will either love or hate. It is imaginative, quirky, and a little gritty, but it is also disjointed and, at times, inexplicable. It is difficult to categorize and difficult to pinpoint what is holding the story together, beyond Augie Hobble himself. While this will be frustrating for readers who like something resembling order in novels, it may appeal to readers who see in its structure a mirroring of the messiness of life or readers who just like to read about wild and entertaining turns of events.
The jacket of the ARC summarizes the novel in appropriately vague terms, stating that “Augie’s life is turned upside down, and those mysterious, possibly paranormal events take on a different meaning.” Notably, the summary never barely says anything about what the original meaning of these events is supposed to be or may be imagined to be, which is bewildering, and, frankly, the mark of a poorly-written synopsis. However, this bewilderment perfectly matches the experience of reading the book itself: a bunch of ill-defined potentially paranormal things happen, and the suggestion is that werewolves are happening (but nothing more concrete than that…just werewolves…around us…as us…maybe), and then suddenly something different paranormal is happening! No explanation of anything given.
Interspersed with all this sort-of-maybe-probably paranormal stuff, however, are a couple other story lines. First, Augie has failed creative arts and must make up his final project over the summer. This, too, is odd since “creative arts” is not a standard school subject and it is not even usual for middle school kids to be able to fail a whole subject due to one bad project (trust me: no teacher wants to see you in summer school). However, this project does prop up what little structure the novel has. The second story line is the saga of Augie’s father’s failing amusement park, Fairy Tale Place, which provides an appropriately bizarre setting for such a bizarre story of creativity and paranormalcy.
The book functions as both novel and Augie’s notebook of creative arts project ideas, so the reading experience is of a hybrid novel/graphic novel. This is doubtlessly one of the book’s major selling points. The comics, writings, and photos certainly contribute to the book’s quirk and are one of the major ways the author conveys Augie’s personality to the readers. They also showcase the author’s talent as an illustrator. However, they do add to the sense that the book is essentially haphazard.
Simply put, Return to Augie Hobble has a lot going on, and it is not always logical, and it does not always mesh. It will appeal to readers who either like the craziness of it all or who just appreciate its somewhat dark tone. Yet a lot of readers will undoubtedly be frustrated, baffled, or both. Although I understand what the book is trying to do, I personally fall in the frustrated camp, and cannot think of a particular reader I would actually recommend the book to. Either way, the book will incite strong reactions, and is likely to find a dedicated audience somewhere.
Source: ARC from publisher/Shelf Awareness giveaway
Return to Auggie Hobble is a book that most readers will either love or hate. It is imaginative, quirky, and a little gritty, but it is also disjointed and, at times, inexplicable. It is difficult to categorize and difficult to pinpoint what is holding the story together, beyond Augie Hobble himself. While this will be frustrating for readers who like something resembling order in novels, it may appeal to readers who see in its structure a mirroring of the messiness of life or readers who just like to read about wild and entertaining turns of events.
The jacket of the ARC summarizes the novel in appropriately vague terms, stating that “Augie’s life is turned upside down, and those mysterious, possibly paranormal events take on a different meaning.” Notably, the summary never barely says anything about what the original meaning of these events is supposed to be or may be imagined to be, which is bewildering, and, frankly, the mark of a poorly-written synopsis. However, this bewilderment perfectly matches the experience of reading the book itself: a bunch of ill-defined potentially paranormal things happen, and the suggestion is that werewolves are happening (but nothing more concrete than that…just werewolves…around us…as us…maybe), and then suddenly something different paranormal is happening! No explanation of anything given.
Interspersed with all this sort-of-maybe-probably paranormal stuff, however, are a couple other story lines. First, Augie has failed creative arts and must make up his final project over the summer. This, too, is odd since “creative arts” is not a standard school subject and it is not even usual for middle school kids to be able to fail a whole subject due to one bad project (trust me: no teacher wants to see you in summer school). However, this project does prop up what little structure the novel has. The second story line is the saga of Augie’s father’s failing amusement park, Fairy Tale Place, which provides an appropriately bizarre setting for such a bizarre story of creativity and paranormalcy.
The book functions as both novel and Augie’s notebook of creative arts project ideas, so the reading experience is of a hybrid novel/graphic novel. This is doubtlessly one of the book’s major selling points. The comics, writings, and photos certainly contribute to the book’s quirk and are one of the major ways the author conveys Augie’s personality to the readers. They also showcase the author’s talent as an illustrator. However, they do add to the sense that the book is essentially haphazard.
Simply put, Return to Augie Hobble has a lot going on, and it is not always logical, and it does not always mesh. It will appeal to readers who either like the craziness of it all or who just appreciate its somewhat dark tone. Yet a lot of readers will undoubtedly be frustrated, baffled, or both. Although I understand what the book is trying to do, I personally fall in the frustrated camp, and cannot think of a particular reader I would actually recommend the book to. Either way, the book will incite strong reactions, and is likely to find a dedicated audience somewhere.
Source: ARC from publisher/Shelf Awareness giveaway
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