Pilot & Huxley: The First Adventure

Title: Pilot & Huxley: The First Adventure
Author: Dan McGuiness

Illustrator: Dan McGuiness
Publisher: Scholastic Graphix

Copyright: 2011

Price: N/A

ISBN: 978-0-545-26504-1 (Paw Prints Edition has no ISBN).
-----------
Summary and Quick Thoughts: Huxley’s parents have disappeared, so what is a kid to do? Go visit his best friend Pilot and threaten that they hate him and have run away. Oh wait, that note was written by Pilot when he found out that Huxley erased over his game data on a video game that he rented. Wait a minute…that game is overdue! Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but today, that particular video game from Awesome Video is needed by the aliens because it has the pass code to help them take over the world! In this mad cap adventure, Pilot and Huxley find themselves zapped to another dimension where Huxley is a curse word and Pilot’s crazy Internet theories make sense.

---------
Recommended Audience: Middle School and up

--------
Things to be aware of: Mild potty humor
----------

Further Thoughts: First off, every once in a while, I find when I read that the characters have voices. Oddly enough, I heard Pilot & Huxley as South Park characters. Why do I bring this up? In the fun epilogue, Pilot suggests that Cartman from South Park should play Huxley. How odd I heard them as South Park characters but as the two other kids (not Kenny and not Cartman). The aliens even had a voice, which was the typical grumbly alien voice. Pity Death didn’t sound like Death from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

I had a bit too much adventure in this one. There was a bit of potty humor in the story (to get on a “bus” you have to go through its butt, eww), oddball foreshadowing, and just stupidness and sillyness after another. As I looked at where this ended up in my collection (J GN at the moment), I asked myself who is this for?

Middle school boys. I suspect they will eat this title up as it is almost as crazy as a ride as Hitch Hikers Guide or maybe some of the cartoons on TV today (i.e. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy?) where one silly thing ends up being explained by another and it somehow makes sense because you are in a different universe.

As to the art work, it is very (I think) crude and I can tell it was digitally done. On the other hand, when taken in context as to who the audience is, it works. It does lend itself to having a South Park feeling though, which might annoy parents.

------
Bonus:

Source: Library copy.