Spider Stampede

by Ali Sparkes, Ross Collins (Illustrator)

Overview

All Josh and Danny Phillips want to do is play in the yard with their dog, like regular eight-year-olds. Unfortunately, their crazy neighbor Miss Potts makes sure that they never have any fun. When the boys accidentally stumble on Miss Potts's secret—that she is working on experiments that change people into bugs—they find themselves in a whole lot of trouble. (They also find themselves with six more legs than normal.) Can the boys survive in the world as spiders? And more important, will they figure out how to change back into humans in time for dinner?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467731058
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2013
Series:	S.W.I.T.C.H.
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	104
Sales rank:	290,872
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	9 - 10 Years

About the Author

Before she became an author, Ali worked as a singer, journalist, magazine editor, assistant to a juggling unicyclist, and comedy columnist on BBC Radio. Ali describes herself as, at heart, an 11-year-old boy, and as a child spent a lot of time building forts, climbing trees, and digging up stuff.

Editorial Reviews

"A spray of strange fluid gives 8-year-old twins Josh and Danny both six extra legs and a quick trip down the bathtub drain in this icky but informative series opener.
Shortly after chasing their dog Piddle into witchy next-door neighbor Petty Potts' hidden science lab, bug-loving Josh and his violently phobic brother Danny find themselves transformed into spiders. Their stereotypically spider-fearing older sister immediately sends them hurtling through the household plumbing down to the storm drains, where friendly rats Scratch and Sniff are already waiting to ferry them back outside, explaining that the effect is caused by Potts' S.W.I.T.C.H. ('Serum Which Instigates Total Cellular Hijack'). Happily, there's an antidote—which Petty Potts herself applies after saving the twins from a hungry toad with a quick stomp of her boot. Sparkes layers her lickety-split tale between a fact file about the twins and a helpful closing list of multimedia nonfiction resources for fans of all things creepy-crawly. Simultaneously publishing sequels include Fly Frenzy, Grasshopper Glitch and Ant Attack.
A buggy blast; readers will be happy with the clear signs that that the twins' career as experimental subjects is far from over." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

In the first book of the "S.W.I.T.C.H." series, twins Danny and Josh Phillips are desperate to find their dog, Piddle, who mysteriously disappeared before their very eyes. Their search takes them into the backyard of a reclusive neighbor named Miss Potts; there, they stumble upon her secret underground laboratory. The boys make it back home with Piddle—and a little something extra. They have eight legs, multiple eyes, and mandibles. Could it really be? Indeed, the boys have been transformed into spiders! Adding to their misfortune is the fact that their sister Jenny hates spiders. She unknowingly tries to exterminate her brothers. Luckily, in their new form, the boys meet some rodent friends that just might be able to help them reverse the effects of Miss Potts's S.W.I.T.C.H. (Serum Which Instigates Total Cellular Hijack) spray. The road to becoming human will be filled with carnivorous birds and Petty Potts's experiments. Will the twins be able to pull it off, or will they be toad food? Reviewer: Heather Welsh

Children's Literature - Heather Welsh

A spray of strange fluid gives 8-year-old twins Josh and Danny both six extra legs and a quick trip down the bathtub drain in this icky but informative series opener. Shortly after chasing their dog Piddle into witchy next-door neighbor Petty Potts' hidden science lab, bug-loving Josh and his violently phobic brother Danny find themselves transformed into spiders. Their stereotypically spider-fearing older sister immediately sends them hurtling through the household plumbing down to the storm drains, where friendly rats Scratch and Sniff are already waiting to ferry them back outside, explaining that the effect is caused by Potts' S.W.I.T.C.H. ("Serum Which Instigates Total Cellular Hijack"). Happily, there's an antidote--which Petty Potts herself applies after saving the twins from a hungry toad with a quick stomp of her boot. Sparkes layers her lickety-split tale between a fact file about the twins and a helpful closing list of multimedia nonfiction resources for fans of all things creepy-crawly. Simultaneously publishing sequels include Fly Frenzy, Grasshopper Glitch, Ant Attack, Crane Fly Crash and Beetle Blast. A buggy blast; readers will be happy with the clear signs that that the twins' career as experimental subjects is far from over. (line drawings, glossary) (Fantasy. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews