Sunday, April 12, 2015

Book Review: The Tapper Twins Go to War (With Each Other)

THE TAPPER TWINS GO TO WAR (WITH EACH OTHER) by Geoff Rodkey is the first in a humorous middle grades series focusing on 12-year-old twins Claudia and Reese.
This silly, fast-paced story documents an epic sibling battle that begins when Reese calls Claudia “Princess Farts-A-Lot” in the middle of the school cafeteria. The war quickly escalates as Claudia retaliates with a dead fish in Reese’s backpack. Before long the battle moves to cyberspace and the world of MetaWorld.
Told as an oral history project, the Rodkey uses transcribed oral interviews, text messages, and chat logs to tell the story. Labelled drawings, maps, screen captures, and photographs are woven throughout the narrative providing additional evidence in the ongoing conflict.
Tween readers will enjoy the sibling banter and references to MetaWorld aka Minecraft and other popular online environments. Because Rodkey invents the social media service names like ClickChat, the books should remain more timeless than some others.
Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and other satirical realistic fiction novels will enjoy this new addition to the rapidly growing tween humor collection. Keep your eye out for the second book in the series The Tapper Twins Tear Up New York coming in Fall 2015.
To learn more about the series and the characters, go to http://www.thetappertwins.com/. There’s even an Instagram photo blog featuring photos by the twins.
Published by Little, Brown: Hachette Book Group on April 7, 2015.