Grooves: A Kind of Mystery

Dwayne Ruggles is just a regular kid, living in a regular town — or so he thinks. One day, fabulously wealthy entrepreneur Howard Thigpen comes to school, and Dwayne notices that Thigpen is surrounded by a cloud of tiny sparks that follows him wherever he goes. The strangeness doesn't stop there — when Dwayne discovers that the ridges in his Thigpen Brand Blue Jeans and the grooves in Thigpen Brand Potato Chips are encoded with a secret message that he can hear through an old Victrola horn, he must stop Thigpen from stealing the lights in everyone's eyes. But what does that even mean?

It's a mystery, and Dwayne better figure it out fast before Howard Thigpen does too much damage. With the help of his friends Kevin Applebab and Emily Holmes, Dwayne upsets some pigs, hears voices in his fingertips, gets rid of 100 "Ghostbuster" records, and figures out a few other amazing things. Kevin Brockmeier has crafted a fast, funny novel that demonstrates the power of ingenuity and imagination.

A quirky middle–grade novel about an enterprising seventh–grader who discovers an astonishing plea for help in the grooves of his blue jeans.

Dwayne Ruggles is a regular kid living in a regular town until evil entrepreneur Howard Thigpen shows up. Thigpen seems to have the ability to make people do whatever he wants, and sparks of light swirl around him wherever he goes. But the mystery doesn't stop there. Dwayne discovers that the grooves in his Thigpen–brand blue jeans and the ripples in his Thigpen–brand potato chips contain a secret message, "Please. You must help us. He's stealing the light from our eyes." It's a race against time to solve the mystery, but first Dwayne better figure out what that strange message means.

Ages 8+

Kevin Brockmeier is the author of city of names and several novels for adults, including the brief history of the dead. He has published stories in The Georgia Review, The New Yorker, and McSweeney's. He is also the recipient of many prestigious honors, including a James Michener–Paul Engle Fellowship, the Chicago Tribune's Nelson Algren Award, and three O. Henry Awards. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.