Fuzzy Mud

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 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.

Fifth grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh walk home from school together every day. When their normal path is too dangerous to walk thanks to the school bully, Chad Wilson, Marshall decides to take a detour through the woods that they know they aren't allowed in. Tamaya has no choice but to follow - she's not allowed to walk home alone. They find themselves lost and surrounded by the strangest fuzzy goop. Little do they know that this mystery mud is being investigated by the United State government.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

The story telling in this book is amazing. I love how the author goes back and forth from the kids to the trial. You get glimpses of the problem at the beginning of the book but the gravity of the situation doesn't really hit home until you see the effects that the fuzzy mud has had on Chad.

Speaking of Chad, I didn't even think about the fact that Tamaya threw the mud in his face. I was so focused on Tamaya's rash and the secret she was trying to keep for her friend that when they mentioned that Chad wasn't at school, my heart dropped.

I'm always a sucker for a story where the bad guy doesn't end of being so bad in the end. Chad, like a lot of kids, had to accept help for the sake of everyone and it's clear that now he has some friends for like (whether he wants to admit it or not).

I did like the underlying story which I felt was about science to help humans ends up hurting humans. I did like that Tamaya felt true to herself and tried to be who she was but was confused because she is at that stage in life where you're not sure if being true to who you are as a person is for the best socially and it's confusing. I feel if Sachar had just focused more on Tamaya this would have been a better book for middle grade, but as it is I don't think the characters or the story are enough to REALLY grab that age range's attention. Over all it was an okay story but I'm not sure if I'd suggest it as a must read.