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The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse [Paperback]

Bruce Hale (Author)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Price:	CDN$ 5.50 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 25. Details
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Product Details

Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Reprint edition (April 28 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0152024859
ISBN-13: 978-0152024857
Product Dimensions: 19 x 12.7 x 1 cm
Shipping Weight: 113 g

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #332,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Books > Children's Books > Ages 9-12 > Series > Mystery & Detective > Chet Gecko
- #50 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Reptiles & Amphibians > Fiction

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Hale (How the Gecko Lost His Tail) launches a mild new mystery series starring fourth-grade gumshoe Chet Gecko, who searches for a missing chameleon named Billy. "Some cases start rough, some cases start easy. This one started with a dame. (That's what we private eyes call a girl.)" Shirley Chameleon, wearing a chartreuse scarf, hires Chet (for the price of a piece of stinkbug pie) to locate her brother, last seen with an angry Gila monster named Herman. As he follows clues through the school and encounters an eclectic menagerie of students and teachers, Chet's comical asides form a tongue-in-cheek satire of hard-nosed Sam Spade types, while other jokes opt for broader humor (e.g., one chapter heading reads, "To Grill a Mockingbird"). The position of lead detective fluctuates between the private eye and his good friend Natalie Attired, the "smartest mockingbird around." This light, humorous fare offers a fairly transparent mystery that may not wow whodunit fans, but beginning readers especially will appreciate the offbeat, likable cast and quirky comedy and may well look forward to Gecko's second case, The Mystery of Mr. Nice, scheduled for release in August. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Chet Gecko, top private eye in the fourth grade, has the Sam Spade lingo down pat ("She was the kind of girl I could have fallen for. If I liked girls") but when it comes to detection, he literally doesn't have a clue. Retained by classmate Shirley Chameleon to locate her missing brother, he misinterprets obvious evidence and follows numerous red herrings. Eventually, Chet uncovers an evil plot against the school's football team, masterminded by Herman Gila Monster and his gang. Can Chet overcome gang members, sadistic teachers, and the detention dungeon to save the game and the day? The clever dialogue is filled with the kind of sarcastic similes that would have made Mickey Spillane proud. ("Brick snorted and giggled, a sound like two owls in a blender.") Even for satire, however, the book is often over the top. Adult characters are uniformly unattractive-gleefully cruel teachers, a sloppy coach, and a feline principal who sharpens his claws on the curtains. The gang's revenge, which leaves the detective suspended over a swimming pool to be chlorinated to death, is the sort of thing that might be expected of James Bond villains, but it's hardly the stuff of juvenile crime. This is far from an essential purchase, but it may resonate with young fans who want to go beyond Marjorie Sharmat's "Nate the Great" series (Delacorte).
Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Some cases start rough, some cases start easy. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse, July 9 2004

R.L.O., 3rd grade teacher (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse (Paperback)

Chet Gecko is a lizard with an attitude. He's also the guy to go to if you have a mystery to solve at Emerson Hicky Elementary School. In the first book of the Chet Gecko mystery series, The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse, Shirley the Chameleon asks for Chet's help in locating her missing brother, a troublesome first grader named Billy. With the promise of a piece of stinkbug pie and a "cootie" filled kiss from Shirley, Chet sets off to solve the mystery.

His detective work leads him to an assortment of unsavory characters: the Rat sisters, who steal his lunch and give him misleading clues; two frightening teachers, Mrs. Toaden (a toad) and Mrs. Glick (an alligator), who almost prevent Chet from solving his case; and Herman the Gila Monster, a huge, poisonous, sixth grade football player, who is up to something bad. With the help of a mockingbird friend named Natalie Attired, Chet finds his way in and out of the classroom in his rush to solve the mystery before the football game that afternoon.

Author Bruce Hale narrates the story from Chet's point of view, and Chet's smart, cool attitude is portrayed through his thoughts and dialogue. Unique, humorous descriptions serve to highlight each character. However, the sheer number of characters makes the story a bit confusing to follow and doesn't allow the reader to connect as well with the main characters. The plot also drags on and on, and the final conflict doesn't seem to be important enough to take up a whole book. Also, the overly witty dialogue gets a bit redundant at times. Perhaps, for a child, the story is more intriguing than for me as an adult. (I'll have to test it out with my class.)

For kids looking for a good laugh and an unusual situation (such as a school consisting of mainly amphibians, reptiles, and rodents), this may be a decent book. While the mystery and plot wasn't particularly interesting, the characters themselves are fun to read about. The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse can be recommended as a light read for children ages 8 and up.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Tons Of Fun, Feb 12 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse (Paperback)

The jokes are great! It got me right from the start. An excellent introduction to an excellent series.

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5.0 out of 5 stars My older brother liked it a lot too, Aug 6 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse (Paperback)

The part when he solved the mystery the best except when he got kissed. That was very sick. I am reading the second book. My brother wants to read it too. I liked Chet and his partner the Mockingbird the best.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars "Chet" same character as pi (P.I.)
In Hebrew the character "Chet" is written the same way as the Greek character "pi" (any circle's circumference divided by its diameter = pi). Read more

Published on July 19 2002 by Tevis Fen-Kortiay

5.0 out of 5 stars My 4th grade class loved it!
This book was written in the style of an old Mickey Spillane novel... I found it extremely enjoyable to read to my class! Read more

Published on May 15 2002 by K. Henderson