Standard Hero Behavior

When I picked up this book, the front flap made me laugh out loud.  A good sign.  The first paragraph:  "SHB. Standard Hero Behavior.  According to Quayle's Guide to Adventures for the Unadventurous, SHB involves things like sucking man-eating-spider venom from your own butt and fighting a horde of marauders with your own severed arm after said marauders have cut it off."

Mason Quayle is a bard living in a town whose heroes have long since fled. No heroes = no adventurous tales and nothing for a bard to write about. So when the opportunity arises for Mason to go on a real-life quest--a chance to be a hero himself--he takes it. Following in the footsteps of his long-vanished hero father, Mason and his best friend, Cowel, set out on a journey full of misadventure and run-ins with an unusual cast of characters, among them, a retired hero-cum-shoe-salesman, a somnambulist sword fighter, a swarm of unfriendly (and deadly) pixies, a wholesome young witch, and a werewolf hit man. They also stumble upon the answers to the questions that have haunted Mason for the past 10 years: Where is his father? Why didn't he return to his family? Was he really a hero?  (From the publisher's website.)

While this book has humor, and adventure, it also has heart.  It was nominated for the 2010-2011 Young Hoosier Book Award in the Middle Grade category.  The author, John David Anderson, lives in Indiana, which is a fun fact that has nothing to do with anything really.   Sometimes we think of authors as all living in New York or somewhere, which is just not the case, but I digress.

My son (11) and I read this one together, and we both really enjoyed it.  Our would-be-heroes, Mason and Cowel are great characters, both with their own strengths and weaknesses.  For example, Cowel has an entertaining habit of sneezing fits when the threat of danger is even suspected.  Mason is slightly braver, and committed to helping his village, while looking for clues as to what happened to his father.  Their borrowed horse, Steed, is the least spirited horse an adventurer ever had, until they discover the secret of really making him move.  I will add that some of the language may not agree with younger children and their parents.

One of my favorite things about this book is that the story opens with a description of a bird sitting on a signpost, and comparison between the bird and the nearby bard, and ends with an altered look at the same bird and bard.  This simple device allows the reader to see the changes Mason's adventures have brought about. 

Over all, I would recommend this book for mainly boys in the 5-8th grade range, although I think it would be enjoyable to anyone who enjoys a good story.  My favorite chapter title:  The Queen Bee, the Rusty Nail, and the Narcoleptic Somnantilist.

~Jennifer