Hamstersaurus Rex vs. Squirrel Kong

April 1, 2017
When the blame for monstrous destruction lands on Hamstersaurus Rex, Sam must clear his tiny, half-dino buddy's name.Bully Kiefer "Beefer" Vanderkoff has been expelled from Horace Hotwater Middle School, and as Hamster Monitor, Sam gets to care for his class pet: a mutated, junk-food-obsessed hamster/dinosaur hybrid. All's well...until the school is visited by rodential destruction on a mass scale and Hammie is the only possible culprit in everyone's eyes. Everyone, that is, except Sam, who, while filming Chinchillazilla vs. MechaChinchillazilla (starring Hammie, of course), is attacked by a 12-foot-tall squirrel. Sam discovers that someone is controlling Squirrel Kong (his money's on Beefer), and Sam has to prove it in order to save Hammie from being sent away to the Irma Bergstrom Memorial Home for Troubled Small Pets. When this seems impossible, Sam teams up with several former nemeses to expose the real culprit. Can he do it before a classmate tries to claim a $300 reward for information on Hammie's whereabouts or before Squirrel Kong destroys the whole town? O'Donnell's sequel to Hammie's eponymous first outing (2016) is as goofball as the first. Dotted with Miller's black-and-white cartoon illustrations--in which Sam is depicted as white, with classmates of various skin tones--it's sure to please those who enjoyed Hammie and Sam's first adventure. The "2" on the spine and the cliffhanger ending indicate more genetically modified fun to come--hurrah. (Science fiction. 8-12)

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May 1, 2017

Gr 3-6-The story of Sam Gibbs and the mutant classroom pet who acts as his sidekick continues. In this volume, Sam and Hamstersaurus Rex face off against a giant squirrel who appears to have ties to the shady SmilesCorp, which, in turn, seems to be linked to everything from Sam's school (especially one suspiciously cool teacher, Mr. Duderotti) to the Antique Doll Museum to Sam's mom (she works for SmilesCorp, and she's a very nice lady). O'Donnell includes even more jokes and action this time around and also cleverly reprises the most memorable characters, such as Hamster Monitor Martha Cherie and bully Kiefer "Beefer" Vanderkopf and his pet snake Michael Perkins. Sam's drawings are less prominent on this go-round, while O'Donnell's spoofs of adult behavior-including the maniacal, vengeful delusions of former SmilesCorp employee Roberta Fast and the latest lifestyle choices of the deeply sad Coach Weekes-are funnier and more pointed than ever. Like Louis Sachar and Dav Pilkey, O'Donnell writes joyful silliness for readers with a budding adolescent sense of humor, and Squirrel Kong's absurdism may resonate even with grumpy, neurotic adults. VERDICT A pure blast of fun for readers who want something amusing and fast-paced.-Abigail Garnett, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017
After Sam dubs the classroom pet Hamstersaurus Rex, it eats a strange protein powder and mutates into a tiny dinosaur-hamster hybrid; Sam teams up with "Hammie" to stop a bully. In Squirrel Kong, they prove another mutant framed Hammie for attacking the school. Amusing, Big Natestyle black-and-white spot art can't salvage this forgettable new series, filled with lackluster characters and hackneyed cartoon antics.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)