Guest Author - Lorel Shea
Recently I received an email from James Kennedy, author of “The Order of Odd Fish”, a very quirky book for young readers that I had reviewed for another site. James invited me to check out his web site and also to extend an invitation to my readers. I'll tell you a bit about James, share my review, and then tell you what sort of project he is working on and how you can get involved!
After earning a degree in physics and living several years in Japan, Kennedy started writing, and published his first novel, "The Order of Odd Fish" in 2008. He muses about his non linear path through life and the rewards that may be gained by straying off the heavily trodden path. James states,
"The ability to get distracted is an easily misunderstood talent...We hear advice about how perseverance pays off. That's true, but I think that the opposite is more interesting and equally true. My favorite experiences and ideas have come when I've wandered away from what I should have been doing."
James Kennedy must have been channeling Roald Dahl when he wrote this book. It's a bit darker and more violent than the Dahl books, but fits right in with the oddball fantasy of Matilda and James and the Giant Peach. The Order of Odd Fish is written with an older audience in mind, as the length and vocabulary as well as the content are more on par with a 5th/6th grade reading level. Kids who enjoyed the Dahl books, and more recent releases such as The Mysterious Benedict Society or Gregor the Overlander will enjoy "Odd Fish".
The story opens with 13 year old Jo and her adopted aunt, an aged movie star, living in a crumbling mansion in the desert. When a mysterious gift arrives addressed to Jo, all heck breaks loose. Jo and Aunt Lily are suddenly on the run from the supremely wicked Ken Kiang, who:
"...sold his soul 23 times to any supernatural being who cared to bid on it. No Price was too low: the 15th time he sold his soul it was for a bag of barbeque-flavored potato chips. Ken Kiang had eaten the chips with indecent glee as the demon looked away in embarrassment."
Their companions in flight are a portly Russian colonel and a giant cockroach who wears a smoking jacket. Thus begins their journey to the bizarre place known as Eldritch City.
This novel has another villain who is far more terrifying than Kiang. He is known as the Belgian Prankster. His stunts in the "real" world include turning the Eiffel Tower upside down and carpeting an entire city. In Eldritch City, people run from him in terror...
Kennedy's offbeat humor is apparent in every line, and his characters are fantastically strange. Jo is a likable girl and for most of the novel she appears to be an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances. A great adventure story that will keep you guessing right up to the end.
Now on to the part where you, your students, and children can take action! Here's what James shares:
I've been getting a lot of wild, strange art for Odd-Fish from fans since it's been published. For instance, one Chicago couple home-brewed a beer based on the Belgian Prankster. A woman in Florida baked a grotesque cake depicting the giant fish vomiting out the Odd-Fish lodge.
This April I'm putting on a gallery show / extravaganza of "Order of Odd-Fish" art in Chicago. Anyone can contribute fan art. Anyone can contribute fan art.
It'll be not only an art show, but also a costumed dance party and theatrical extravaganza. I'm working with a Chicago theater group called Collaboraction to do this. They're going to decorate their cavernous space to portray scenes from the book (the fantastical tropical metropolis of Eldritch City, the digestive system of the All-Devouring Mother goddess, the Dome of Doom, etc.).
Opening night will be a dance party where people dress up as gods and do battle-dancing in the Dome of Doom. In the weeks afterward, we'll bring in field trips from schools. They'll browse the fan art galleries, be wowed by the elaborately decorated environment we've created, take in some performances from the book, and participate in an energetic writing workshop.
The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2010. The artists who have already submitted stuff are talented and enthusiastic; I want to do something that will really honor them.
Thanks!
James
