by Tim Byrd
ages: 9-12
First sentence: “The Lyceum of the Wilde family’s manor was a huge, odd room that seemed a combination of world-class library and Olympic gymnasium.”
Release date: May 14, 2009
Review copy sent to me by the publisher.

I needed something, after finishing The Woman in White, that was as far away from Victorian serialized novels as I could get. And, sorting through my piles of stuff, I came across this one. Which screams “not stuffy”. (Also “campy” and “not deep”, among other things.)

First off: how awesome is that title? Just saying it makes me grin… though I have to admit that I tend to say it in that movie-announcer voice: “DOC WILDE and the FROGS of DOOOOOOM!” Honestly: how much better can you get than frogs of doom? Not much.

That said, it totally and completely lived up to my campy expectations. You have a god of a Dad in Doc: a tall, muscular, blonde, intelligent, rich inventor who happens to Love his family and adventures. So he takes his family on adventures. Alas, his wife is dead (presumably, she was tall, muscular, blonde, intelligent and rich also), but that doesn’t seem to stop Doc or his two kids 12-year-old Brian and 10-year-old Wren (who are not tall and muscular, but are intelligent and rich). Add into this mix a British majordomo/butler who tends, in a crisis, to quote from literature (which the kids can always guess — though they stump him with Dr. Seuss — obviously they’re home schooled) and an Irish pilot/heavy and you pretty much have the Wilde family.

The adventure begins when their super-smart, tall, rich (he lives on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building) Grandpa Wilde goes missing. Of course the Wilde family have to go rescue him, and following his trail end up in the Amazon jungle of Hildago. Flying their gyrocopter into the jungle, they are attacked by MUTANT FROGS (Really. Totally. Awesome.), which crash the gyrocopter (but, which due to the super-intelligent design of Doc’s doesn’t actually crash), and the Wilde family are forced to hike through the forest. Where they’re attacked by more mutant frogs (but which they manage to fend off, without killing, because they respect all life forms, no matter how mutant, and are repelled by killing) one of which eventually possesses the body of one of them. Of course, Indiana Jones style, they manage to make their way into the lair, and rid the world of mutant frogs forever. (I would apologize for the spoiler, but really: did you think this could have any other ending?)

It’s smart, enjoyable, campy fun. Perfect for a hot summer day (or a kid whose tastes tend toward the mutant…).