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Henry Mosley has a talent for persuasion and a yearning for adventure. He convinces his friends Riley and Reed that the three of them must get their names into the record books by successfully completing some great and worthy exploit, because “We may be the most boring twelve-year-olds on the planet.”
Henry, of course, is the brains of this operation, masterfully devising extraordinary plans to accomplish their goal. It’s Riley’s job to research and record their efforts with an objective eye and attention to detail. That leaves Reed to actually carry out the plans.
It is Reed who finds the river when the boys hike into the pitch-black forest. It is Reed who discovers that exotic and ferocious animals inhabit the wilderness outside Cleveland. It is Reed who ends up exiled from his own home because every adventure leaves him smelling worse and worse. While it will seem to many readers that Reed is the real hero in these stories, the boys are clearly a solid team, and each one plays an important part in the quest for adventure.
From driving a bike off the roof of a house to excavating a garbage dump, the best-laid plans always shoot off in unexpected directions. Henry’s confident determination never falters; Riley’s just-the-facts style of reporting is deserving of a Pulitizer; and Reed’s reluctant participation leaves him smelling like anything but a rose. Like true heroes, however, neither failure nor wild beasts nor the stench of toxic sludge will keep the boys from their desired destiny.
Paulsen’s wry wit shines in Masters of Disaster. The understated writing style makes the boys’ slapstick adventures downright side-splitting, and Reed’s catch-phrase - “Call 9-1-1” - gets funnier with each adventure. This book is recommended for age group 9 to 12 years but should not be confined to the young.
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Masters of Disaster