Children’s books are not automatically guaranteed a sequel. Granted, many, if not all of them, aspire to have a lengthy run, but there are some stories and books that just peter out on the literary vine. This is not something that Game of Pets: The Boy Who Knew Too Much, by Aaron Blabey, has to worry about. Elementary school-age children know Blabey from his work on The Bad Guys. That book series was one of the few that our youngest child would pick up, and has since been made into movies that probably do the same thing to kids in that demographic. Game of Pets is effortless to read. It’s a world-building start to a funny, science-fiction world that ages eight and up will want to explore.
There’s so much right about Game of Pets that I wasn’t sure which strand I most identified with. The pets on our planet are placed here to play a game. The cats, dogs, horses, hamsters, birds, fish, and reptiles are all speaking to one another and plotting against humanity. In reality, they’re just avatars to players who are billions of miles away. The pets are aliens who could be monitored and broadcast to an audience eager to see which pet can bring about the destruction of Earth.
Griff is the main human in Game of Pets. He’s a typical tween in the way that he acts, but has more allergies than you can shake a stick at, but he really wants a pet. When he goes to the pet store there aren’t many choices due to his allergies. A fish would be a natural choice; unfortunately, he has a fear of them, which causes him to faint around them. All of this changes when Carol, the pet shop employee, shows him an axolotl.
Carol is our other main human character. She drives a monster truck, is quite surly, very muscular and doesn’t take any guff, especially from Griff. She suggests that an axolotl would be a great pet for Griff. He’s taken aback by the unique appearance of the axolotl. Its amphibian nature means that it doesn’t activate Griff’s allergies and the two seem to have an immediate friendship. Carol seems as if she likes animals more than people and is eager to send the two new friends on their way. Griff is loaded up with all the supplies needed to care for an axolotl and he starts his walk home.
A large fish tank is secured to his back. The axolotl is put in a plastic bag with enough water to merit its amphibian life. On the walk home Griff starts hearing voices and paranoia starts kicking in. The voice sounds kind of like a surfer guy, saying things like, “Yo, not cool, man!”, “Chill” or “It was me, man.”. Griff realizes that the voice is actively speaking to him when he gets home and sees the axolotl in his bag on his bed.
How is this strange-looking amphibian able to communicate with him telepathically? The two have an introduction of sorts where ‘Bob’ assures Griff that he’s not imagining this and it’s not due to an accident. They are communicating and Bob has an urgent message for him. Earth is just a television location that’s being used by intergalactic species as a game show. Bob also convinces Griff to place him in a more portable container, and while it’s not the coolest thing in the world; he spends the rest of the book in a water bottle.
Griff is able to hear the thoughts of all of the animals around him, but they don’t know that he can understand them. The two go on a walk so that Griff can understand the scope of the danger of what’s happening. The next game will start soon and the ten contestants are about to be chosen. On their walk, the duo encounter Carol again. She’s aghast at the treatment Bob is receiving, but has her fears assuaged when Griff is able to tell her what the animals in the store are thinking by describing the personalities and actions. Suddenly, she’s on board too against the alien games and is eager to help the two, just in time for Bob to be chosen as the next contestant in Game of Pets.
Game of Pets: The Boy Who Knew Too Much will be the first example that kids encounter of a cliffhanger that makes them look forward to reading more. Wha? Kids getting frustrated at the fact that they can’t read more now!? This is a silly hybrid chapter book/graphic novel that resembles The Bad Guys in its appearance. There are illustrations on every page, with occasional instances of multiple pages in a row. These extended illustrated chapters happen when the alien’s home world is introducing the game or its contestants.
This is the start of a fabulous series for elementary school readers. The text is perfect for third grade students and on-level for them to read by themselves. Reluctant readers, you boys in fourth and third grade, will be able to read it as well, with the illustrations guiding you along the way. Not only that, that same demographic will want to read it. They’ll be curious about the bug-eyed human who is flanke by the dozens of pets in the shadows. They’ll notice the title of the book is surrounded by light bulbs, as if it’s a show of some sort. The curiosity in Game of Pets is a willing dare to people in elementary school. It’s the cat video contest in book form, where you can’t just watch one.* This is a book that will demo as low as second grade and go through middle school, for those really reluctant readers who will have remorse over the fact they didn’t read this book sooner.
Game of Pets Book 1: The Boy Who Knew Too Much is by Aaron Blabey and is available on Odd Dot, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing.
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