The Adventures of Charley Tooth

by L.B. Richards

Book Overview

When fifteen-year-old Charley Tooth is whisked from his home and asked to perform magic for fantastical beings of a strange new world, he must learn to use his latent powers or be destroyed by the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843951362
• ISBN13: 9780843951363
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 311 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.2" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 11 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 10

Customer Reviews

Hitchhiker's Guide + Harry Potter = Charley Tooth

Equal parts "Hitchhiker's Guide" and "Harry Potter", "Charley Tooth" provides the same humor, warmth, and wonderful characters that longtime fans of Adams and Rowling have come to love. The humor operates on multiple levels, suitable for both young and old. A list of the characters' names alone would make for hysterical reading. Hopefully the first in a long, long series, this whirlwind tour through Charley Tooth's world isn't nearly enough to satisfy. Here's hoping we see more of him, and soon.

Charley Tooth was the most entertaining book I read all year

Going into reading The Adventures of Charley Tooth, I wasn't sure what to expect, and if I should lower my expectation because it is apparently geared toward a younger audience than my aged self. After reading the first few pages, I knew what to expect. It opens like an intergalactic Great Gatsby where we are guided through a uniquely fantastic world by a writing style that is clever and endearing. No adjective is safe as Richards unveils a world, through a teenager's eyes, that can only be compared to the refreshing oddity of the cantina scene in Star Wars. The only criticism would be of the break in pace as the plot quickens in the last third of the story. Charley's hilarious and touching reflections on his old life seem to go on hiatus, as we get pulled through the seriously developing storyline. All told, though, the mechanics of the alien world and its magic are consistent and the story is engaging. The book is, as others mentioned, appropriate for all ages because it operates on multiple levels. It's a quick, fun read and the enjoyable writing style alone merits picking up Charley Tooth.

Wonderfully Warm and Smart

From the first "where-am-I-who-are-these-um-well-people-I-guess-what-do-I-do-now?" moment, The Adventures of Charley Tooth puts the reader entirely on the side of Charley, a high school student from Connecticut, as he tries to figure out what is normal, what is malignantly abnormal, and what is just silly in a strange new world. Author Richards has a light touch and the book is full of funny moments. But don't be lulled into thinking the book is madcap escapism. Unlike so much writing that uses a fantastic setting to give its young readers a reason to dream they are someone else, somewhere else, Charley Tooth finds its hero relying on what he's learned as a 16-year-old on Earth to make sense of what's going on around him and to get out of some scrapes. Indeed, one of the many wonderful things about the book is the matter-of-fact tone around things such as magic and lizards that can talk. The way they're presented here, they seem so much more, well, possible than they do in much other young adult fiction. Readers of all ages will enjoy this tightly structured, fast-paced, and above all, smart book, and will reluctantly put it down with grins on their faces.

Excellent for young (or older) adults!

The Adventures of Charley Tooth is really funny. It's really clever and it's really captivating. I didn't want to put it down. This is supposed to be a book for young adults but I'm not so young and I thought it was AMAZING! Charley Tooth's adventures take us into a cool new world called Nivalg, where anything and everything is possible. The writing is superb, hilarious and endearing. It's like the classic, "A Wrinkle in Time" mixed with "The Phantom Tollbooth", a little "The Great Gatsby" and a touch of Charles Dickens. Young adults will love it now and grow to appreciate it more as they age. Older adults will treasure it the moment they read it. Three cheers for Charley Tooth!