Fuzzy Mud

As if I don't have enough to read, my library has to put a new book by my favorite author on display. ?�Now, it weren't by the author of the Wayside School stories and Cardturner, etc., I wouldn't have bothered. ?áSF horror for kids? ?áNo thank you. ?áThe closest I generally get to this

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kind of horror is old Crichton. ?áHowever, it's Sachar, so I did read it, and I enjoyed it. ?áSmart, scary, poignant, *T*rue, with just a tiny bit of catch-your-breath comic relief, gracefully written. ?á

Highly recommended to all, whether you're a fan of Sachar or not. ?áUnless of course you've had it up to here (so to speak) with 'careless scientists unleash the apocalypse' stories... but judging how well they still sell, I doubt you have.

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FUZZY MUD by Louis Sachar is a fast-paced middle-grade ecological mystery exploring friendship, bullies, and a life-threatening biohazard.

A work of speculative fiction, the story revolves around three children who stumble upon a mutated microorganism with the potential to cause a global

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pandemic.

Sachar weaves together short, focused chapters with excerpts from Senate hearings to create a quick read for a broad audience. For such a short book, the author is able to create multi-dimensional characters and a believable plot.

Youth who enjoy the environmental mysteries of Carl Hiassen and Jean Craighead George will be drawn to this ecological thriller. While reluctant readers will enjoy this fast-paced, “skinny book”, it will also be popular with those who read school and friendship titles. The variety of themes make it a good choice for group discussions.

Librarians and teachers will find the timely environment issues to be good connections with STEM connections. Consider a display that includes medical and ecological mysteries along with works of nonfiction about the CDC and strange diseases.

Published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House on August 4, 2015. ARC NetGalley.

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This is an engaging story on the Middle Grade level focusing on three fifth-grade students at a private school. Tamaya and Marshall are cutting through the woods on the way home from school to avoid a bully, Chad, who had threatened to beat up Marshall. Unfortunately, the three of them end up

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encountering a mutated form of a high-energy organism originally developed at a nearby industrial plant. They don’t know what it is, but Tamaya calls it “fuzzy mud” because that is what it looks like to her. When Chad attacks them, she throws some in his face and she and Marshall run off. The next day, Chad is missing, and Tamaya’s hand is covered in blisters. Tamaya suspects something awful happened to Chad, and she leaves school to look for him in the woods. Then Marshall takes off to look for Tamaya. Meanwhile, the fuzzy mud keeps replicating and spreading.

Intermittent chapters are presented as excerpts of government hearings held before and after this event, about the nature and safety of the organism, called an “ergonym.” At the end of each chapter featuring Tamaya, the author inserts some cautionary math to show the incredible results of what happens when a number keeps doubling, just as the ergonym’s population does every thirty-six minutes. As the organisms’s inventor, Jonathan Fitzman, points out at the hearings, in twelve hours you have more than a million, and by the next afternoon, more than a trillion.

Discussion: There are many parallels between this book and the Middle Grade book by Paolo Bacigalupi, Zombie Baseball Beatdown. I thought Bacigalupi did a better job of presenting the environmental issues, and while Bacigalupi’s corporate perpetrators might have been fairly evil, they didn’t seem silly or unrealistic, whereas I thought the character of scientist Jonathan Fitzman was both.

On the positive side, the home life of Tamaya, Marshall, and Chad allows the author to add a number of complications to the environmental issue, including single parenting, bullying, peer pressure, and moral questions, which Sachar treats with sensitivity and understanding. And as always, Sachar has a way of making you warm up to characters you start out thinking you wouldn’t like at all; but by the end of the book they have wormed their way into your heart.

Evaluation: This would make an excellent discussion book for middle grade readers, because it raises lots of issues both personal and political that would interest them and generate debate.

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Tamaya is a good girl at a private school. She walks to and from school everyday with her older neighbor, Marshall. When Marshall takes her on a short cut through the woods to avoid an after school fight with the kid who has been bullying them, their lives change drastically. Tamaya is having a

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hard time keeping up and notices this weird mud along the path. When Chad attacks them in the wood, Tamaya takes a scoop full of the mud and rubs it in Chad's face. When Chad goes missing, Tamaya and Marshall go looking for him and realize the mud is more than it seems. Senate hearing transcripts are intermingled into the story as the government is investigating research that may have lead to the mud.

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Some alternative energy gets out of control and starts to reproduce at an unnatural rate and three children end up being the ones who discover that the "fuzzy mud" has escaped containment and is capable of causing a lot of problems. Side story involving a bully.

Liked Tamaya's and Marshall's story, specially the fact that an eight yr. old could be so selfless and try to save someone who is not quite her friend. The scientific part was interesting but not as tidy as I would want it to be.

Loved this suspenseful scifi thriller. Set mostly in the forest surrounding the campus of a posh private school in New England where 5th grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and her 7th grade friend Marshall Walsh(OK, she probably has a crush on him) encounter a strange organic material after taking a short cut

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to avoid getting beat up.

So well written! The emotions, insecurities, thoughts and fears of the very well developed characters make this book a really interesting, and satisfying read, even for adults. Targeted audience is probably 3rd-7th grade, though, as an adult, I truly enjoyed reading this one, and most middle school students might as well. Worth a try for reluctant readers.

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Tamaya and Marshall encounter a strange puddle of fuzzy mud in the woods outside of their school with unpredicted consequences. Fuzzy Mud is both a school story and a plague story, combined in an usual way. Sachar presents readers with two different story arcs that intersect: one about bullying,

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school friendships, and doing the right thing, and the other about earth’s growing population along with the search for renewable energy at any cost. Tamaya, Marshall, and Chad are convincing characters, although their resolutions at the end of the novel are a bit pat but appropriate for its middle grade audience. The more nuanced and troubling open ending for the fuzzy mud crisis will leave readers thinking about what might or could happen next, and maybe think about real-life environmental contaminants in a different light. Fuzzy Mud has unusual pacing, alternating between the events of a few days and several months into the future, leaving the epidemic narrative confined to a mathematical equation that punctuates each chapter. This is rather abrupt, but keeps the novel succinctly adhering to its themes and prevents the narrative from slipping into a trope. An odd but engaging book, Fuzzy Mud is recommended for ages eight to twelve. (3.5 stars)

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Narrated by Kathleen McInerney and cast. A horror story that incorporates ecological disaster, doing the right thing, the impact of science and invention, math, senate hearings, and skin rashes. There are echoes of the ebola outbreak and its fallout. McInerney reads in dulcet tones, taking the edge

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off the horror and putting the focus on Tamaya's values and Marshall's inner struggle coping with bully Chad. Plenty of themes for kids to explore here; maybe too many themes. But entertaining...and a tad scary...all around.

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Quick and engaging read with interesting/relevant themes.

“Fuzzy Mud,” by Newbery-Medal-winning author Louis Sachar, is an exciting ecological thriller for kids ten and older. It’s mostly a serious drama, but the book is also laced with just the right amount of quirky humor to offset the tension, suspense, and terror.

The book is noteworthy because

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of the complex set of serious social, scientific, political, and moral issues it touches upon as literary themes. Mostly, the book deals with the dangers of genetically modified organisms. But it also spurs thought about world overpopulation, the worldwide need for alternative energy sources, the occasional failure of government oversight of scientific development, and the frequent real-world need to have to make difficult decisions between two or more negative outcomes.

As an adult reader, I found it fascinating to see how Sachar deftly handles these complex themes in a delightful, scary, and simple plot that makes the whole not only appropriate and interesting for children, but also just plain fun to read.

The story has three main characters: an exceptionally bright fifth-grade girl and two troubled seventh-grade boys. They all attend Woodridge Academy, an elite private school in the beautiful woodlands of Pennsylvania. The school is a combined elementary and middle school. It’s small, so it’s the type of school where everybody knows everybody…sort of like a big family. But unfortunately, it’s still possible in a small school like that for a kid to sit alone at lunch and always get picked on by the school bully with nobody doing anything to help.

Woodridge is located at the edge of a forest. All the school kids are forbidden to go into the woods. They are warned how easy it might be for them to get lost, fall into a ravine, or get attacked by a wild animal. And they all love to tell scary stories to each other about the crazy hermit who is rumored to live there.

Tamaya Dhilwaddi is an exceptionally smart fifth grader. And, as we learn later, she’s also very brave, loyal, and kind. She’s attending Woodridge on full scholarship. Marshall Walsh and Chad Hilligas are both outcast seventh graders. Marshall’s a pathetic kid, the type with no friends who eats alone at lunch and feels like his life is cursed. In Marshall’s case, his life is cursed because Chad, the school bully, has targeted him for daily humiliation. Chad is an outcast, too. Nobody likes a bully. He’s attending Woodridge because he’s been kicked out of his last three schools. If his parents didn’t pay to send him to Woodridge, his only other option would be to attend school in a juvenile detention facility.

These three kids end up being at the center of a worldwide ecological disaster involving a very dangerous mutated strain of a beneficial genetically modified organism. The single-celled organism was created from a DNA-modified strain of slime mold at a secluded scientific laboratory, euphemistically called SunRay Farm. The lab is located on the other side of the woods about thirty miles from Woodridge Academy. After mutating, the organism escaped and is now living in the woods near the school. The organism was designed as an inexpensive inexhaustible energy source, but in its mutated state, it’s a devastating threat to all other living organisms.

“Fuzzy Mud” is a fun scary story with a lot of heart and a lot of unexpected plot twists; it’s also full of sympathetic and realistic characters. The book promotes good moral values for individuals and governments. It also encouraged kids to think about important contemporary social issues and perhaps to ask their parents and teachers for more information about those subjects. This book should appeal to bright, science-minded kids as well as to the “outsider kid” in just about everyone.

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This novel is a look at what can happen when people get overzealous with science or power or money which causes an ecological and biological hazard that could kill off mankind.

Tamaya Dhilwaddi walks to school daily with a boy who lives nearby, Marshall. Marshall hasn’t been treating her well

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lately because he hates going to school now that Chad attends their school. Chad is mean. When he says that he plans on meeting Marshall after school for a fight, Chad means it. Tamaya doesn’t know any of this; she’s been wondering why nice Marshall isn’t so friendly anymore. After school, he insists on going home using a shortcut, which gets them lost in the woods. Chad still finds Marshall and a fight ensues. Tamaya helps by putting mud in Chad’s face. She noticed the mud earlier--it looks funny--kind of fuzzy. They luckily escape.

Tamaya is a girl who always wants to do the right thing and is truly nice. She’s also really intelligent. When Chad hasn’t been seen since the day before, Tamaya goes to look for him, especially now that she’s having a bad reaction to touching the fuzzy mud. Marshall then goes after the two of them. With three kids missing and a weird fuzzy mud, there is no doubt that chaos will ensue.

This cautionary tale is fun and short to read. I enjoyed it and think most of you will as well.

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As a fan of Louis Sacher, I was delighted at the opportunity from NetGalley to read this book . It will be an excellent choice for upper elementary students. Wonderful as a teacher read aloud. There are many different components that come together to make the book current and on target for that age

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group.
Tamaya and Marshall walk home from their academically elite private school. On this particular day they take a short cut through the woods to avoid the bully, Chad. The plan does not work and three students encounter something that will be scarier than bullying.
Along with bullying there are the other problems of divorced parents, uninterested parents and the pressures of peers. The dialogue between the kids as they understand each other and themselves is excellent.
The scientific thread that is presented between chapters as excerpts from a senate hearing will be great points of discussion on science, discovery, ethics and the price the world must pay to continue.

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I read this for a 5th/6th grade book club for work, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't select the title, so I didn't know much about it going into it, but it was a wonderfully creepy, suspenseful book with a lot of great characters. For some reason, it reminded me of

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Stranger Things -- I think it was because of the slow build of tension, and the fact that there's something weird going on in this otherwise normal town. I'd definitely recommend this for any older elementary or middle school student who is looking for a suspenseful, creepy read.

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I read this for a 5th/6th grade book club for work, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't select the title, so I didn't know much about it going into it, but it was a wonderfully creepy, suspenseful book with a lot of great characters. For some reason, it reminded me of

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Stranger Things -- I think it was because of the slow build of tension, and the fact that there's something weird going on in this otherwise normal town. I'd definitely recommend this for any older elementary or middle school student who is looking for a suspenseful, creepy read.

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I always liked Louis Sachar books from when I read them with my son when he was younger and including the two most recent ones that I read, Holes and now Fuzzy Mud. This is a great Middle Grades story about the environment, with some values and morals a huge part of the story. It is a thrilling,

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suspenseful story that borders on a horror story as well.

Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. One thing they have always been told is not to go into the woods. When new student and bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight, that is exactly where he heads. Tamaya follows him as she has been told by her parents that she is never to walk home alone. Chad catches up with them and when Tamaya throws a handful of mud into his face, the trouble begins. This story goes back and forth between Senate hearings and the story being narrated by Tamaya. It appears that there is a company near the woods trying to genetically engineer a solution to clean energy. But as history has taught us and will continue to teach us, there are consequences to playing the role of creator...even if you're just creating microorganisms. The problem is, "The smaller something is, the harder it is to keep contained. You can put a tiger or a grizzly bear inside a cage, but it's a lot harder to keep a tiny microorganism from escaping."

I don't want to give away any more of the story, but suffice it to say that this story had an element of surprise, some humour, family dynamics, bullying, character development and the issues with the environment when there is a spill or escape of things being experimented on or developed in secret. This is a great story to read with or to Middle grade students, especially as they will be the developers of the future. There are a lot of things that can be discussed along the way, with a lot of teaching points. This is a great story for family, classroom, school or public libraries. Bravo Louis Sachar, you have done it again.

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Louis Sachar really knows how to draw in a reader.
This is a thriller that will have readers quickly turning its pages.

In this case, the culprit isn’t a virus, but a mutant microbe of an amazing new biofuel that’s somehow multiplying like crazy in the woods next to Woodbridge Academy. Three

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Woodbridge students end up in these woods one afternoon when seventh-grader Marshall Walsh takes a shortcut to avoid a fight with bully Chad Hilligas. Fifth-grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi has followed as well; she always walks home with Marshall, her neighbor.

The trio has no idea that a strange mutation under their feet threatens to become a world crisis. Threaded throughout the book are short portions of secret Senate hearings that enhance the big picture and further the terror of the impending disaster. Then Tamaya unknowingly dips her hand into the mutant microbe (which she calls Fuzzy Mud) and flings it at Chad’s face to stop him from hurting Marshall. Tamaya and Marshall run home, but the next day they learn that Chad is missing. Meanwhile, Tamaya’s hand is covered with a bloody, blistering rash that is spreading like wildfire. Marshall who is older orders Tamara to say nothing about bring in the woods. Tamaya and Marshall face a moral crisis about whether to return to the woods to try to help their lost enemy. Their ensuing search is so dramatic that readers will genuinely fear that none of them will make it out alive.

Although the biological catastrophe seems far-fetched and the biofuel inventor never becomes more than an eccentric scientist. The heart and soul of this book belongs to Tamaya, Marshall and Chad, and their compelling journey from hatred to friendship.

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Tamaya and Marshall walk the two miles back-and-forth to Woodbridge Academy together every day. Both kids have always enjoyed attending the private school, but lately Tamaya's been concerned that her friends are calling her a “goody two shoes". She can’t understand what's wrong with following

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the rules. Marshall has been struggling ever since Chad came to school and decided he wasn’t cool. Now no one wants to sit with Marshall anymore, and he’s becoming more insecure as the days go on. When Chad threatens to beat up Marshall after school, Marshall decides to take a shortcut through the forbidden woods. Tamaya has no choice but to follow. The walk through the woods is tough because they have to crawl and walk through lots of obstacles. Tamaya is fascinated by a patch of fuzzy mud that she sees. What is it? Is it bacteria or some kind of strange film or mold? The further they walk the more cuts and scratches they get, not to mention Tamaya’s torn sweater. If only those were the worst things to come from the woods. When Tamaya wakes up the next morning a strange rash has broken out all over her hand and arm. Back at school there is even worse news that puts Marshall and Tamaya in a spot where they must make a tough decision. Only they don’t agree. What is going on with the fuzzy mud? Is it safe or is there something else going on?

I have read other books by Louis Sachar, so I was very curious to read Fuzzy Mud. I enjoy hearing from both Marshall and Tamaya as the story progressed. Tamaya would make a great friend! I also thought the interviews and depositions with scientists that were sprinkled throughout the book helped add to the mystery and made me start to worry about what was going on. I didn’t always agree, but it was interesting to see what Marshall and Tamaya decided to do when they were in a tricky spot. This book will make readers think about right and wrong, energy and bacteria, as well as what could be lurking in the woods. I would recommend this to kids in fifth grade and up who like mystery and books that are spooky.

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This was a family car-trip book. At first I thought it'd be a bust -- it seemed rather babyish -- 5th grader Tamaya and 8th grader Marshall are the main protagonists and it starts with the usual middle school concerns of crushes, bullies, homework, shaky friendships, etc. in their small PA town.

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But that is the genius of Sachar -- he never underestimates his audience and ratchets things up a level. When the bully Chad pursues Tamaya and Marshall into the nearby forbidden woods on their way home from school, the action takes off. To "rescue" Marshall from a beating, Tamaya grabs a handful of nearby "fuzzy mud" and throws it in Chad's face. The next day, Tamaya has a nasty rash and Chad is missing -- never came home the night before. Tamaya shows great courage and ditches school to go find Chad -- sacrificing her "good girl" rule-following reputation to do the right thing. Marshall can't measure up and stews in justification and fibbing to the principal about being the last one to see Chad, both of which are realistic responses. An epidemic begins. Serious outcomes result, including death -- not so babyish now. The book is told from varying viewpoints and is interspersed with testimony from "experts" -- a Senate hearing committee and the scientist responsible for the fuzzy mud -- which is actually a mutation from his Biolene, a manufactured gasoline alternative. And there are math facts -- exponential growth of multiplying micro-organisms. Great discussion of the environment, responsibility, compassion, progress etc. All agreed it was a good book.

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I read this book out loud to my 5 year old son at bed time. I found this book because I was looking for Sci-Fi that he could connect with that isn't all about fighting or a tie-in to some licensed property. It fit the bill and was an entertaining read.

The climatic portion of the story was scary and

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intense enough that he ended up staying awake half an hour later than usual. Oops!

Otherwise, the content was well within his capabilities to understand. The story was engaging and kept him asking questions about why characters made specific choices, or whether they were good or bad people. I really appreciated that the story went out of its way to highlight that people have shades of gray, and even the worst of us have reasons for our bad behavior. I loved that he would get indignant with the characters who treated others poorly, and he had a great time speculating about what was going to happen. When the tweens and early teens become flustered around other kids they found attractive it really annoyed him, so I'm glad that there wasn't any romantic subplot included.

The way the story wrapped up the central danger was neat, and the resolution for the characters was sweet. I hope my son can hold onto the lessons about people as much as the potential benefits and dangers of bioengineering.

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children's sci fi/horror, with science and math, plus bullying. This was like a cross between Goosebumps* and WonderWorks, with elements of horror-for-kids and a sneaky inclusion of concepts like exponential growth (or multiplication, on an easier level) and biological mutations (without getting

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into evolution or DNA). The first 50 pages are struck me as very "written at a kid level" (not a bad thing considering the audience, but noticeably less sophisticated than the other things I've been reading lately). But once I got to the part with the fuzzy mud, I finished it pretty quickly (more or less in one sitting). I regularly recommend Louis Sachar to kids (mainly Sideways Stories--I think a teacher must be reading those aloud to them because kids still ask for those; occasionally Holes if their teacher will allow them a book that's been made into a movie) and will continue to do so with this new addition

*I haven't read any Goosebumps, but they continue to be popular, even though they are all essentially the same story with different covers, so I am assuming that kids would enjoy this at least as well.

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Mutant microbes, bullies and bravery propel this brief and deftly-told tale of the dangers of biotechnology.

The woods around Woodridge Academy are off limits, a rule that neighbours Tamaya and Marshall respect on thier daily trek to school together. But when Marshall needs to avoid belligerent new

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classmate Seth, rules are broken and the two find themselves lost. In the forest. With the bully. Feisty Tamaya gives him a face full of mud and our heroes flee for home. That's when it turns dark and scary as the mud quickly reveals itself to be some kind of carnivorous biofilm; Tamaya's hand starts to look like something from a horror flick and Chad disappears. The intermittent chapters of the transcript for the Senate Committee investigating the events in the story clearly illustrate what has happened, with scientists explaining concepts like biofuel production and genetic mutation (and offer a great jumping off point for introducing these concepts and debate around the dangers of tampering with nature).

Many thanks to Random House for the advance reading copy.

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Tamaya is proud to attend Woodridge Academy, a school based on Virtue. However, she soon learns that it is not always easy to know the right thing to do, as often all choices are less than desirable. For instance, she is not allowed to walk home from school alone and when her 7th grade neighbor and

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walking partner Marshall suddenly takes off through the off-limit woods after school saying he is taking a short-cut home, Tamaya follows him. Once they are lost deep in the woods, she finds out why he decided to take the alternate route- a boy named Chad had threatened to beat Marshall up on the way home and Marshall was trying to avoid him. The problem was that Chad had found them in the middle of the deserted woods and was carrying out his threat. In order to save her friend, Tamaya grabbed a handful of some mud and smashed it in Chad's face so that they could escape. When Tamaya's hand breaks out in strange blisters later, she remembers that the mud was kind of strange- fuzzy and warm and there were no dead leaves in it, although many were scattered everywhere else. Trouble grows exponentially as Chad is noted missing the next day. Court excerpts from investigation into Biolene, a secret fuel made with mutated living microorganisms that was being experimented with in the area are interspersed throughout the chapters. Sachar develops a suspenseful story about the outbreak of infectious disease and engineering living organisms for the younger audience. This would be a great book for a discussion group, grades 4-7.

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I read this for a 5th/6th grade book club for work, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I didn't select the title, so I didn't know much about it going into it, but it was a wonderfully creepy, suspenseful book with a lot of great characters. For some reason, it reminded me of

Show More

Stranger Things -- I think it was because of the slow build of tension, and the fact that there's something weird going on in this otherwise normal town. I'd definitely recommend this for any older elementary or middle school student who is looking for a suspenseful, creepy read.

Show Less