Wednesday 9 October 2013

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams

The experts at booksfc delight in extreme sports. Some of their favourite sports include headbutting trees, swinging on dead ivy, pulling each others' trousers down and crash landing. Occasionally the experts at booksfc go to visit their Granny. Her favourite sports include tea drinking, walking using a stick, and sitting down. So far she has only managed to get Mad Scientist to join her in these sports, and that's because he trying to cure her. The others stay well clear.
This all means that the idea of a book about someone else's Granny sounded as exciting as knitting an extra fluffy woolly jumper and giving it to Granny as a Christmas present in revenge.
Despite this, they agreed to read and review the book. This had nothing to do with the word 'Gangsta'. This had everything to do with the words' David' and 'Walliams'. These two magic words will make the experts read anything. The title could have been Molecular Epidemiology, and the experts would still have wanted to read it, as long as David Walliams' name was on the front cover.
So, when they stopped running around and actually settled down to read Gangsta Granny, what did they think of it?
Front Cover
Mad Scientist: I was particularly interested in Granny's mobility scooter that managed a top speed of 6 miles an hour when she put her foot down. It inspired me to invent a range of spy gear for any other would be gangsta grannies out there. I plan to sell knitting needles that can pick locks, hearing aids that are really sophisticted listening bugs and tea pots with hidden 3G spy cameras. I think the market for these items will be huge.
Party Rocker: Yeah, hugely non existent.
Mad Scientist: Why you little punk... I'll....I'll...
Party Rocker: ...you'll what? Are you going to use your knitting needles on me? Or even worse, your tea pot? My knees are shaking.
Striker: Well I thought Gangsta Granny was great. First I felt sorry for Ben because he had to stay at his Granny's house every Friday. Then I felt sorry for his Granny because Ben said she was boring. Then the story became really interesting when Ben discovered his Granny had a secret, and I had to know everything about her secret. I want to give it 5 stars.
Flower Power: Me too. 5 stars. I loved Ben's costume. And his Granny. And their adventures together. And apples. And pizza. And dressing up. And parties. And lemonade (even though there wasn't any in the book). And pink. And purple. Shall I go on?
Striker/Party Rocker and Mad Scientist in unison: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!
So Gangsta Granny scores an arthritic 5 stars, and Flower Power gets sat on. What a result!