May 26 - "The Contests at Cowlick"

“The Contests at Cowlick”
by Richard Kennedy
Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Some Other Things That Aren’t as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures from the Sky, Parents Who Disappear in Peru, A Man Named Lars Farf, and One Other Story We Couldn’t Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out (2005)

* * * * (Great) Children’s

Wally, the lone resident of Cowlick, with the courage and willingness to stand up to Hogbone and his ornery gang of fifteen, plans three contests in an attempt to save the town from the dastardly fiends.

This would be an amazingly fun story to read-aloud. So much so that I found myself reading parts (most, to be honest) out loud to an empty living room. The dialogue is a joy to experience. The story was nicely constructed and flowed well from beginning to end. My only complaint is that the story was a tad predictable. The contests could have been slightly more original. Still, overall, it was a fun story to read. And who doesn’t enjoy a fun story.