My Dad, The Earth Warrior

Author [s]: Gary Haq
Pages: 276 pages
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction
Publisher: Gazzimodo
Release Date: June 5th, 2018
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Photo Credit: Goodreads.com
Where to buy: Amazon| Barnes & Noble
*Thank you Bookstasters for a review copy in exchange for my honest review*
Synopsis:
One boy.
A geeky dad.
A freak accident!

Dad wakes up from a bump to head claiming to be a Warrior sent to protect Mother Earth – and is soon up against a ruthless energy tycoon.

Hero is forced to go along with Dad’s new persona. And when Gran mysteriously disappears, Hero and Dad embark on a dangerous rescue mission.

Can Hero save Gran and his old dad back before it’s too late?

My Dad, the Earth Warrior is an extraordinary heart-warming and funny tale of a Dad and son on a thrilling mission to save Mother Earth! It is a story of personal growth, environment and discovering the warrior spirit that lies in all of us.

A funny, heartfelt, quirky middle-grade adventure that will appeal to fans of Frank Contrell-Boyce, Phil Earle and David Walliams.

Review:
In My Dad, The Earth Warrior we are introduced to Hero, one of the main characters of the story. Hero is a fan of soccer and wants so desperately to go to the World Cup. Hoping his dad has bought tickets, Hero anticipates himself preparing for the day. However, there are some things about his dad he doesn’t like, one of the main things being how engrossed his dad becomes in the encyclopedia collection that was handed down to him. Hero feels alone because his mother is no longer in the picture [she passed] and his dad checks out into his book world. We then meet this rambunctious, takes no stuff grandmother who has returned from another adventurous journey. All things are going as good as they can until a earthquake rocks Leaford and they end up in a whole new adventure.

My biggest highlight of the book was the relationship building between Hero and his dad. Hero saw his dad as a boring nerd who didn’t notice him. He then sees him as this weird being who somehow doesn’t realize he is not being himself. After the earthquake, that caused the events leading to his dad’s behavior, Hero slowly realized that maybe he was wrong about his father. He started to figure out that his dad is more than his books and that the loss of his mom, his father’s wife, possibly gave his father. I was happy that the relationship was more than took a an experience, a rescue and a truth serum to bring together. Their relationship isn’t perfect but it does allow the reader “to not judge a book by its cover”.

Overall the characters were well developed. There was a clear distinction between the the protagonists and antagonists. The villains weren’t written as too unbelievable. They were monopolizing and manipulative and had the one goal of fracking in their next location. Hero’s friends were the perfect companions to Hero’s chaotic adventure and appreciated their friendship throughout the story. Their friendship felt real and imperfect, which is how every friendship is.

This book also gave a strong message about caring for the environment. I really enjoyed how the author was able to make it so that a younger audience can definitely learn while they leisurely read. The message was also a real message about the consequences of fracking and is something that was well written into the story line. I was able to receive the message all while still investing in the other components of the story.

This was a good middle grade book and I’ve read quite a couple in the last few months. It was well written, and imaginative. It had pretty good background building – although at times I wasn’t always sure of the location of Leaford. The pictures and word art added a lighter feel to some of the more dramatic parts to the story and gave way to a good storytelling experience.

If you want to give a middle grade child a book they would enjoy and get a good environmental lesson in, this is the book! It is the kind of human story you need sometimes.