Fantasy, Ages 7 and up, Funny, Encouraging ( )

The mystery of where do socks go when they don't come out of the dryer is answered in this book. When Milo checks the dryer for the missing sock when he is matching them up, he ends up pulled into Ogregon. While escaping from a boy-eating ogre he ends up in the Home Office where he stumbles onto a plot to "squash" Tuckerman, his father's boss. While trying to rescue Tuckerman, the adventure continues. What really happened with his mom and dad? Can they foil the plot to provide children to the ogres for snacks? This is a humouous fantasy that children will love. This book would be a great read aloud in a classroom or a great "chapter book" read for children from grades 3 to 6.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Milo's dad is a door-to-door fencing salesman who travels a lot and works long hours. Ever since his mom left them, he's mostly cared for by a 'grandmother' hired by his father's company. He's picked on by other kids and has a pretty pathetic life... until he falls inside the dryer while looking for a match to the weird sock he found, and finds himself in a land of ogres.

I kept waiting for this story to interest me, and it never did (and nearly stopped reading it several times). Granted, I'm not the target age group (which is probably around 8-11 years old), but I generally enjoy a clever and cute middle grade story. This one just never hooked me. Yeah, Milo's a sympathetic character, and the story tries real hard to be humorous. But it all fell flat for me. I thought it was woefully predictable - and I think a lot of kids will feel the same way. (I received an advance copy from Amazon Vine.) ( )

This funny little chapter book is about a boy named Milo who leads a pretty ordinary life. One day, he's doing his chores and goes to get the laundry out of the dryer and is sucked into Ogregon (land of the ogres) and finds his dad's boss (who is not who Milo expected!), his dad, giant turkeys, ogres, and other kids who have been sucked into Ogregon. It's funny, mysterious, and adventurous. Kids are going to love this one. ( )