Melvin Beederman the Grateful Fred
Written by Greg Trine
Illustrated by Rhode Montijo
Reviewed by Ryan Z. (age 9)
Melvin Beederman the Grateful Fred is a funny book about a superhero. In the beginning, Melvin gets a letter from his favorite band the Grateful Fred. It says, “Dear Melvin, we need your help. Someone has been sending us threatening letters. We don’t know who it is. Please come to our concert just in case.” So Melvin goes to the concert and relaxes. Big mistake! The stage blows up! After, Melvin and Candace, his sidekick, go to Big Al’s, a shop-owner who helps bad guys, to look for a list of all the bad guys and where they live. He won’t give it to them, so they sneak in at midnight and find it. Read the book to find out if they can save their favorite band or if the bad guy, Joe the Okay Guy, now Joe the Bad Guy will put an end to the Grateful Fred.
Melvin Beederman is a hilarious series. My favorite part is when Joe the Bad Guy ties up Melvin and Candace to the refrigerator. They think it is full of bologna, their only weakness, but it turns out to be pastrami. Melvin and Candace snap free. Melvin is a funny character. He thinks that since he can speak gerbil, he can communicate with his pet rat named Hugo. For example, in the story Melvin asks him, “Squeakity, Squeak, Squeak?” This either means, “How does it taste?” or, “Does your belly button itch?” I loved the illustrations. My favorite one is when Melvin sees the librarian’s underwear. In the picture, Melvin looks like he’s going to be sick. Melvin can’t turn off his x-ray vision so he sees everybody’s underwear. That’s why Melvin Beederman the Grateful Fred is such a funny book.
I recommend this book for 2nd and 3rd graders because it teaches you to trust each other. Melvin and Candace rely on each other when solving cases. It also teaches courage. Melvin is courageous because even though he does not have all the superhero powers, he manages to always catch the bad guys.