Get Mooned: Joey & Johnny, the Ninjas, Book 1
By Darienne Stewart,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Giddily fun start to ninja series has lots of fighting.
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What's the Story?
Best friends Joey and Johnny are students at Kick Foot Academy, a very traditional -- and dangerous! -- ninja school in Lemming Falls. Though they're devoted to becoming spectacular ninjas, they seem to cause chaos wherever they go. Nevertheless, their intimidating headmaster taps them to keep tabs on a suspicious exchange student, who turns out to be a superhero sidekick-in-training. On their mission, the boys discover that their rivals in Red Moon Clan have been arming themselves with mechanical suits and high-tech weaponry -- which is so not ninja. The two ninja schools must face each other in the traditional Test of Three to determine which school will survive -- and which will shut down for good.
Is It Any Good?
Joey and Johnny hurtle from one amped-up adventure to the next in a lively world filled with ninjas, superheroes, con men, and shadowy villains. The silliness is sometimes crammed to overflowing.
The plot of GET MOONED unspools loosely, with meandering asides on pop culture or the astral plane. There's hardly a line of dialogue or a descriptive sentence that doesn't aim for a chuckle. But most of those chuckles are well-earned with engaging wordplay and clever writing. Comics panels and spot illustrations add to the fun and help draw readers, even reluctant ones, in.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the pros and cons of technological tools. Do you ever find technology that's supposed to help actually gets in the way of what you're trying to do?
Does this strike you as a violent book? Would it seem different as a movie or TV show? Do you think that media violence affects kids?
The Red Moon Clan school seems to operate like a video game, with often random-seeming achievements. How do in-game rewards and offers affect the way you play?
Book Details
- Authors: Kevin Serwacki , Chris Pallace
- Illustrators: Kevin Serwacki , Chris Pallace
- Genre: Humor
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts , Superheroes , Adventures , Friendship
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Balzer + Bray
- Publication date: March 30, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 8 - 12
- Number of pages: 320
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: April 6, 2020
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