Grasp Jacob Two-Twos First Spy Case Executed By Mordecai Richler Classified In Brochure

read this as a bedtime story to myyr old son, He liked it. I like Richler's extensive vocabulary, many times we stopped to discuss the meanings of words, It is a satire, but not a mean one, Richler's ongoing fascination with the workings of the law can be a bit much for younger readers, rather dry and not sure how much meaning comes through, The characters are unforgettable, lots of fun to be had there, The clairvoyant's gamble is great fun, I absolutely hated the mirror writing, when I was trying to get through a bedtime chapter at the end of a long day the last thing, I wanted to do was read backwards mirror writing, It might have been more fun for a young reader on his own, Not as much fun as The Hooded Fang, but a good time nonetheless, TC This was a really fun, short, silly story, and the first in a series about Jacob TwoTwo, a boy who isxxyears old, hassisters,brothers, and has to say everything twice so they pay attention to him.
Jacob's school is being destroyed by the evil new headmaster I, M. Greedyguts, and Loathsome Leo who makes dreadful food at lunch each day, At times the book feels a bit like a Roald Dahl story with lots of silly dreadful moments, Yet, Jacob's family is kind and he gets lots of help from a crazy nextdoor neighbor who says he is a master spy, but seems really just crazy, I also like that the book takes place in Montreal, which is one of my favorite cities, I think lots of kids in gradesorand up will find this story just silly enough to be worth reading, I was impressed with the creativity of the trilogys opener, The second novel was less intricate but warm: helping a dinosaur reach a Canadian haven for his kind, Above expectations, I wholly enjoyed “Jacob TwoTwos First Spy Case”,! Mordecai Richler died with many sequels planned, Its a loss that this final volume had at last hit this series stride! Every character, including the undesirable Loathsome Leo and his Mother, headmaster Greedyguts, and teacher Sour Pickle are moulded so meticulously we know them and dread their foibles as we read.


Jacobs parents are loving and spunky, I laughed over the gambit in which the five children flee at their Dads muster call: “Who is my favourite child”! They know the one extricated from hiding first, will be prevailed upon for a chore! The whole story blossoms so organically, from the poker games at which Jacob and his Mom dread encountering Loathsome Leo, to the exciting new neighbour Jacob instantly adores: X Barnaby Dinglebat.
The problem of thieving headmaster and stingy cook are clear but cruelty is never the books tone, It is whimsical at every turn,

Jacob, as tickled as I would be with such an ostentatious, enigmatic neighbour is old enough at eight for his voice and intelligence to emerge.
He is exceptionally quick at learning Barnabys spying arts, Nothing is more delightful than the visual codes like bananas, inviting or dissuading visits, The clairvoyant card trick is exceptionally good and easy to pull off, My utterly favourite detailing is phrases like: “I have had a bath in Turkey and eaten turkey in a city called Bath”! With humour in place of suspense: this would have amounted to a series as enthralling in its way, as “The Hardy Boys” amp “Nancy Drew”! Savour this story wherever you find it.
" Richler is another meaningful figure for Gail, I took two semesters of Canadian lit when I was in college, trying to get in touch with my ancestors, It didn't work because the course didn't cover any French Canadian literature for the obvious reason that it was taught in English, Or maybe there was something political going on, I mean there should have been some English translations of French Canadian work, right So I left the academic world with no greater understanding of my forebears but with the feeling that people like Margaret Atwood, Robertson Davies, and Mordecai Richler were friends of my youth.


So after being reminded that Richler had written for children, I went right out and found at A Reading Fool's library a copy of Jacob TwoTwo's First Spy Case.
Though the book was published in thes not so very long ago it has a retro feel that is

charming rather than dated, It's probably due to the fact that Richler began the threebook Jacob series twenty years earlier, in the mids, Evidently adult authors have been dipping into the kidlit pool for a while, "

"There's lots of wordplay, which I'm not terribly fond of, myself, though I understand kids like it, The book also has a lot of material built around very traditional kid interestsspies, card tricks a very good one, superheroes, and overthetop adult nasties at school, Who are, of course, defeated by Jacob,

And these books are truly set somewhereMontreal, A lot of short chapter books don't have a strong sense of being about any particular place,

Jacob TwoTwo is a very real character, His books would be great for the kind of traditional boys boy who thinks books aren't for kids like him, "

Excerpts from sitelinkOriginal Content Not as great as the original Jacob TwoTwo, in fact rather a usual case of childcombatsevilprincipal/headmasterwithhelpofbizarreadultsidekick, but not bad as an example of its genre.

Some parents will be freaked out by the Spy's having Jacob keep his interactions with said Spy more or less secret but on the other hand, Jacob's parents are refreshingly willing to defend him if not always believe his stories and even his sibs, when roused from the rut of elderness, are protective.
I read this book a loooong time ago and despite the hideous drawings, I remember really enjoying it, : Things turn sour at Privilege House, Jacob TwoTwos private school, when the headmaster, Mr, Goodbody, is replaced by the despicable I, M. Greedyguts. Now everything is unbearable, from geography class to the ghastly lunches made by Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse, Worse yet, nobodys parents believe how bad it really is, Fortunately, Jacob has a new friend he can turn to for help: X, Barnaby Dinglebat, Master Spy. Jacob TwoTwo will always be a bit coloured for me by the musical I will always hear the jury singing "Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Take him away!", and by the cartoon version, particularly Mr.
I. M. Greedyguts, who was made slightly more sympathetic in that version,
That said, Mordecai Richler's prose is sparkling and hilarious for both adults and children, There's something about Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse and the school lunches that rings true, even as the descriptions become more and more absurd, There are nice touches the endless descriptions of what X, Barnaby Dinglebat, Master Spy, is doing on his missions, the trips to McDonalds there actually is one on Atwater in Montreal, the trip to Schwartz's, canadian! jewish! retro! lit! lit! Bothered me a lot that both villains are pretty much male versions of me, This was a fun read in the same sort of vein as The Phantom Tollbooth, Jacob TwoTwo breaks into espionage when his neighbour turns out to be a Master Spy,

Lots of fun wordplay, The villains are Mr. I. M. Greedyguts and the Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse, And lots of little Canadian jokesNot as good as the original, We listened to an audio version of this book, I am not sure if it was just the way the audio book was recorded or if it was the book itself, but I was not very impressed and don't feel much like reading any more Jacob TwoTwo books.
Jacob TwoTwo's First Spy Case Jacob TwoTwo by Mordecai RichlerMordecai Richler was a Canadian author, screenwriter and essayist, His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitzand Barneys Versionhisnovel Solomon Gursky Was Here was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in, He was also well known for the Jacob Two Two childrens storiesThe son of a Jewish scrap yard dealer, Richler was born inand raised on St, Urbain Street in the Mile End area of Montreal, He learned Yiddish and English, and graduated from Baron Byng High School, Richler enrolled in Sir George Williams College now Concordia University to study English but dropped out before completing his degree, Years later, Leah Rosenberg, Richlers mother, published an autobiography, The Errand Ru Mordecai Richler was a Canadian author, screenwriter and essayist, His best known works are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitzand Barney's Versionhisnovel Solomon Gursky Was Here was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in, He was also well known for the Jacob Two Two children's storiesThe son of a Jewish scrap yard dealer, Richler was born inand raised on St, Urbain Street in the Mile End area of Montreal, He learned Yiddish and English, and graduated from Baron Byng High School, Richler enrolled in Sir George Williams College now Concordia University to study English but dropped out before completing his degree, Years later, Leah Rosenberg, Richler's mother, published an autobiography, The Errand Runner: Memoirs of a Rabbi's Daughter, which discusses Mordecai's birth and upbringing, and the sometime difficult relationship between them.
Richler moved to Paris at age nineteen, intent on following in the footsteps of a previous generation of literary exiles, the so called Lost Generation of thes, many of whom were from the United States.
Richler returned to Montreal in, working briefly at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, then moved to London in, He published seven of his ten novels while living in London, as well as considerable journalism, Worrying "about being so long away from the roots of my discontent", Richler returned to Montreal in, He wrote repeatedly about the Jewish community of Montreal and especially about his former neighborhood, portraying it in multiple novels, In England, in, Richler married Catherine Boudreau, a French Canadian divorcee nine years his senior, On the eve of their wedding, he met and was smitten by Florence Mann née Wood, a young married woman, Some years later Richler and Mann both divorced and married each other, He adopted her son Daniel, The couple had five children together: Daniel, Jacob, Noah, Martha and Emma, These events inspired his novel Barney's Version, Richler died of cancer at the age of, sitelink.