The Gollywhopper Games

Ladies and gentlemen!

Boys and girls!

Welcome to the biggest, bravest, boldest competition the world has ever seen!

The Gollywhopper Games!

Are you ready?

Gil Goodson sure hopes he's ready. His future happiness depends on winning the Golly Toy & Game Company's ultimate competition. If Gil wins, his dad has promised the family can move out of Orchard Heights—away from all the gossip, the false friends, and bad press that have plagued the Goodsons ever since The Incident.

Gil's been studying for months. He thinks he knows everything about Golly's history and merchandise. But does he know enough to answer the trivia? Solve the puzzles? Complete the stunts? Will it be more than all the other kids know? Gil's formidable opponents have their own special talents. He must be quicker and smarter than all of them.

The ride of Gil's life is about to begin.

Win! win! win!

"When his father is charged with embezzlement, 12-year-old Gil Goodson becomes an outcast at school and his family sinks under a black cloud that doesn't lift, not even after his dad is acquitted. From this somber premise, first-time novelist Feldman concocts an outlandish method by which Gil will come out on top again — and get enough cash so his family can move. But winning the Gollywhopper Games, a contest sponsored by the toy company that fired his father, means besting 25,000 entrants in a series of brainteasers. Gil makes it to the final 10, where two teams compete against each other. His teammates are as obnoxious as the golden ticket holders on Charlie Bucket's famous tour, though not as imaginatively drawn, and their bickering nearly drains the fun from the whacked-out challenges they face. Indeed, the appeal of the book lies in the puzzles, which involve unscrambling clues hidden in rhyming verses and then tackling various stunts (obstacle courses, mazes, scavenger hunts) that get increasingly difficult as the field is winnowed. As the outcome of this intricate, potentially interactive story is never in doubt, many kids will want to put the story on pause to try to work out each answer. Final illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 10-14." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" meets the "The Amazing Race" in this fun, interactive novel. Gil Goodson has been chosen to compete in the Gollywhopper Games, held in the labs and halls of the Golly Toy and Game Company. Illustrations.

Jody Feldman holds a journalism degree from the University of Missouri, and she worked in advertising before becoming a full-time author. Her writing has appeared in newspaper and magazine ads, as well as on television and radio. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.