Fake Mustache

March 12, 2012
If the Origami Yoda books hint that Angleberger is just a kid at heart, this madcap adventure seals the deal. Set in the town of Hairsprinkle, it stars seventh-grader Lenny Flem Jr., whose life is upended when his best friend, Casper Bengue, buys a fancy suit and an expensive fake mustache: the Heidelberg Handlebar #7. Soon after, billion-dollar robberies start occurring in Hair-sprinkle, and a mysterious man named Fako Mustacho is quickly becoming a local celebrity—one with major political aspirations. Lenny is sure Casper is behind it all, but with the population under the spell of Fako Mustacho’s fabulous mustache, it’s up to Lenny and TV star Jodie O’Rodeo (think Hannah Montana crossed with Sandy the squirrel from SpongeBob SquarePants) to save the day. And, naturally, a crisis caused by a fake mustache can only be fixed with gag items like a Nasal Gun and an Ultra-Sticky-Stretchy Grabber Hand. There’s no twist too goofy or absurd as Angle-berger pulls out all the stops for this unabashedly silly story. Ages 8–12. Agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

March 15, 2012
Can one nerdy teen keep a tuft of fake lip-hair from realizing its dream of world domination? Seventh grader Lenny Flem Jr. leads a mild-mannered life hanging out with his best friend, Casper, and watching repeats of the now-cancelled Jodie O'Rodeo Showdeo with his parents and sisters (he will never admit that he likes it). Then Casper, whose hippie parents never buy anything unnecessary, gets a wad of cash from his grandmother, and he uses it to purchase a man-about-town suit and the very expensive Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven (a real-hair fake mustache). Soon after, the robberies begin. Billions are stolen by, first, a gang of strolling accordion players and then a bunch of school librarians. Both groups are led by a mysterious, short suited man with a mustache. Then Fako Mustacho, businessman-about-town appears and holds the town of Hairsprinkle in his thrall. Only Lenny and the real Jodie O'Rodeo seem immune from his mesmeric spell, so it's up to them to stop Fako's grab for presidential power! Angleberger severs all ties with sanity in his latest farce for preteens with hilarious results. Narration is shared by Lenny, a nerdy everyman hero, and Jodie, a thinly disguised Hannah Montana. There's plenty of action and goofiness with very little room for explanations. Fans of Angleberger's previous efforts won't be disappointed. Total deadpan lunacy. (Fiction. 9-12)

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June 1, 2012

Gr 3-6-Be prepared for a wacky romp as seventh-grader Casper Bengue uses a hypnotic, brainwashing fake mustache to try to take over the world. The town of Hairsprinkle, its mayor, and finally the United Sates fall under his spell. The only people standing between Casper (now called Fako Mustacho) and his path to world domination are his former friend Lenny and canceled preteen television star Jodie O'Rodeo. Angleberger keeps the action moving as Lenny and Jodie escape Fako's brainwashed goons in a novelty factory full of wigs, confetti, and enough fake snot to keep kids involved. Humorous full-page black-and-white art is scattered throughout. A quick, fun read and first purchase for libraries, especially where the author's "Origami Yoda" series (Abrams) is popular.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
Grades 4-7 Angleberger (The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, 2010) clearly knows a thing or two about how middle-grade kids, boys especially, can have an almost bottomless fixation on novelty items. Like, oh, a fake mustache. After Lenny's best pal, Casper, buys the Heidelberg Handlebar #7 (rumored to have been made from the actual mustache of a legendary European assassin), things get weird quick. A string of robberies, orchestrated by a very short man with a very prominent mustache, leads to the suspiciously named billionaire Fako Mustacho's bid for the presidency. Lenny knows that Casper and his 'stache are the culprits, and he enlists the help of a yodeling teen TV star to bring him down. It's kind of a weird strategy to build an entire plot around a few novelty items (various models of sticky-stretchy hands play a big role, too) but Angleberger's foot-on-the-floor zaniness helps pull it off, fueled by a steady stream of gags and utter ridiculousness that make Saturday-morning cartoons seem reasonable in comparison. Pure, unfiltered hilarity. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Origami Yoda and its follow-up, Darth Paper Strikes Back (2011), became kid cult faves, and fans will gobble this up with equal relish.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2012
When a spree of bank robberies strikes the wacky town of Hairsprinkle, narrator Lenny Flem Jr. knows that his best friend Casper is the culprit. After all, the robber was wearing the same man-about-town suit Casper picked up at Chauncey's Big & Small, Short & Tall, and the same Heidelberg Handlebar Number Seven mustache he bought at Sven's Fair Price Store. As Casper's criminal ambitions grow higher and higher, the pratfalls, slapstick, and gross jokes get correspondingly amped up, and it's only with the aid of has-been TV star "Jodie O'Rodeo, the preteen cowgirl queen," her horse Soymilk, a fake-booger-shooting nasal gun, and an Ultra-Sticky-Stretchy Grabber Hand that Lenny can bring Casper (a.k.a. "billionaire hard-nosed businessman" Fako Mustacho and now the newly elected president of the United States) to his knees. Unlike the bone-deep daffiness of Daniel Pinkwater (who is referenced here), Angleberger's humor is synthetic and indiscriminate, but the breathless stream of deliberate stupidity is admirably relentless and will gain the book fans among those becoming bored with Captain Underpants. Occasional black-and-white illustrations are appropriately goofy. roger sutton

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2012
When a spree of bank robberies strikes his wacky town, Lenny Flem Jr. knows that his best friend Casper is the culprit. It's only with the aid of has-been TV star "Jodie O'Rodeo, the preteen cowgirl queen" that Lenny can bring Casper to his knees. The breathless stream of deliberate stupidity is admirably relentless and will gain the book fans among those becoming bored with Captain Underpants.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)