Tots to Teens & in beTween - The Wednesdays by Julie Bourbeau

Title: The Wednesdays

Author: Julie Bourbeau

Illustrator: Jason Beene

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Publication Date: August 14, 2012

Genre: Middle Grades, Adventure

How I Got It: from NetGalley for review

Goodreads Summary: 

Max’s village is absolutely normal in every single way and on every single day—except Wednesday.
Most of the townsfolk shutter their windows and lock their doors to hide away from the many peculiar things that happen—things like cats getting stuck in the vacuum cleaner and birthday cakes meeting fiery and horrific ends. But Max is too curious for that, and so, breaking every rule in the village, he searches out the cause of all the Wednesday weirdness.
What he uncovers is a secret so devious—so dastardly and mischievous—that life as he knows it will never be the same. Max himself is not the same. Suddenly the mysterious little accidents so common on Wednesdays are happening to him on Thursdays, Fridays—even Saturdays!
What’s come over Max? And more importantly, is there any cure for a case of the Wednesdays?
Mystery, magic, mischief and monsters abound in this slightly fantastical story of a human kid who wants to stay that way.

Poor Max, it was just a case of the wrong place at the wrong time, which often happens when kids are crushingly bored.  Every Wednesday bizarrely "bad luck" plagues Max's small village.  In fact, it's so bad they call it The Wednesdays and the entire place locks itself up tight for the entire 24 hours.  Max was bored from being locked in all day with his exhausted parents and colicky baby brother.  He was just watching a storm, he'd only cracked the window for some fresh air, surely The Wednesdays wouldn't notice...

There was nothing in particular about the boy standing in the open window to indicate that he was anything other than perfectly ordinary.

But he was a boy, no denying that.  And the creature staring up at him was cold and wet and unbearably grumpy, and if not this boy, then he'd have to keep trudging about in this blasted storm…

The boy would do just fine, he decided.

And so begins Max's full blown and daily case of The Wednesdays. His bad luck become dangerous, he's banned from school, he's a danger to his family… the only good thing is that his little brother calms down around him.  Max realizes that he's turning into a Wednesday,  wether he wants to or not.  In an attempt to save himself he enlists his best friend, a school newspaper reporter, a cowardly parapsychologist, and an all WWII vet suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Max finally meets The Wednesdays
Courtesy of Jason Beene

The older Wednesdays are not to be messed with
Courtesy of Jason Beene

Bourbeau's story is a great mix of mischief, mayhem, adventure.  The Wednesdays are a nice balance of funny and bad but the older Wednesdays… they're dangerous and add a little bit of fear to the story.  The story brings up quite a few side mysteries and questions that readers will want answered because they can't help but come up with their own theories.  Besides that, Bourbeau's quirky characters were pretty endearing.  At the time of this writing I have not been able to find out if The Wednesdays is part of a series or a standalone read.  It it's a series, great, I know questions will be answered.  In fact the ending makes you eager to pick up the sequel.  If it's a standalone then The Wednesdays had a very frustrating ending that left too many questions unanswered.

Verdict:

I think this story would be a great fit with second and third graders.  The Wednesdays' mischief will make kids gasp and laugh, but it's the type of story where readers start thinking ahead.  They'll want to pick up a sequel to see if their assumptions were correct. However, if these questions are never answered, I think kids would be pretty disappointed and let down.  I'm giving it a tentative 3 stars.

Related Links & Reviews:

Mrs. Mommy Book Nerd's review (Her second to last sentence perfectly sums up the feel of this story.)
Musings of a Bored Housewife review PLUS her kids add their thoughts on the story.
Wear the Old Coat review