WIDE, Steve & MACKINTOSH, Michelle Bad eggs Lothian, 2003 (Start-ups. Level 1) ISBN 0734405669 With a hard-boiled detective pun in almost every sentence, this little novel is a very humorous read for those readers who are appreciative of that genre. Hard Boiled owns the Sunny-Side-Up detective agency. All characters are eggs, and Hard Boiled has a pretty client who is being blackmailed by a gang of bad eggs. He tracks them down by questioning foods in the fridge. He’ll grill them later. Hard Boiled’s voice, and the clever setting within the fridge, suggests a young readers’ version of a Raymond Chandler novel. Students will be entertained by the book’s plot, the egg puns in short and direct sentences, and the witty language. This is a useful book. The humour and accessibility lend it versatility that could be used to model the core concepts of how writers create worlds with words. The book is suitable for teaching concepts that range from genre writing to readers theatre. C. Thomas USER LEVEL:   Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4

Paper $10.95

SCIS 1135130

Bad eggs by Steve Wide and Michelle Mackintosh
Cover illustration by Michelle Mackintosh
Cover reproduced with kind permission of Hachette Children’s Books, Australia
Do not reproduce