Shoe Wars

Product Information

Bear and Ruby (the kids), have to suffer through Walter's pranks and nonsense every day. But when they discover their dad's flying shoes and get revenge on Walter, that's when they set off a chain of events that lay out through the rest of the book. I have to say, Wendy and Walter were awful I hated both of them immediately. It's like if Cruella de Vil was obsessed with shoes instead of Dalmatians, and he had a son, that would be Wendy Wedge. Teenagers can also be able to consume this book without it being too easy. I think that's what I liked most about this book; it wasn't too easy nor hard. Just how far will Wendy go to win the award? How can Ivor get out from under Wendy's rule? And what sort of hijinks will happen along the way? I loved reading about all the shoes, and the big show at the end was fantastic. Where do I sign up to get those shoes? Hello? Next to the fun show there was of course the big finale as Ivor, Bert, Betty, and the kids try to stop Wendy from doing any more. That part was also very exciting and I loved how it all came together.

This new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author Liz Pichon is a standalone title in a whole new world separate from Tom Gates. Set in Shoe Town, big-bad-boss Wendy Wedge is obsessed with winning the Golden Shoe Award with the invention of flying shoes. But our star siblings Ruby and Bear are in a race against time to rescue the inventor – their dad! – and save the day. All the hilarity and crazy antics you would expect from Tom Gates, along with some super-cool gadgets, the baddest baddies and tons of shoes. Product Details Format SHOE WARS is a silly fun middle grade read that is somewhere between a graphic novel and chapter book. The story follows the siblings, Ruby and Bear, whose parents were in the shoe selling business until their mother died and the shoe giant, Wendy Wedge, swept in and bought them out. Their dad took their mother's designs and original shoes with him, but he knows Wendy would do anything to get her hands on them. Written and presented by Nicholas Smith, with 1Xtra presenter Ace. The drama is written by Al Smith.Shoe Wars, Liz Pichon's latest stand-alone book, tells the story of Ruby and Bear. Their dad, who works under the notorious Wendy Wedge, invented flying shoes, a guarantee to winning the annual Golden Shoe Award. Sadly, Wendy Wedge will do anything to get her hands on the shoes. Ruby and Bear must work together to protect their dad and retain the shoes before it's too late! Time for SHOE WARS >:) Pacily-written, wildly-imaginative and brilliantly-plotted, Shoe Wars has more than its fair share of real edge-of-the-seat moments and it's laugh-out-loud funny to boot (especially the *Foot notes which form a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the action.) There's an extra depth here too with important underlying messages about family, bereavement, grief, friendship, not judging by appearances and the importance of working together in the face of adversity. The need to support independent businesses against the huge corporations is also firmly at the forefront of the story - which seems more timely than ever in our current economic climate. The kids are awesome (not just for the above mentioned part, but also with other things, though I was shaking my head at what they did earlier in the book that caused a lot of bad things to happen and didn’t make me happy), but other characters that we see in this book are also well written. Like Bert, the only guy not under contract of Wendy and the only one who still has his own shoe store. Or Betty, who works with Ivor but is definitely not amused with her employer. Or Chelsea, Betty’s daughter.

Readers who have devoured Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and the works of Raina Telgemeier will love the high-energy, hilarious antics of the Foot family from one of the largest names in the UK. Comic Book / Graphic Novel Sequential narrative with illustrations that are usually presented in a specific layout but not always.The villain, Wendy Wedge, was well written. That is pretty rare. Sometimes I am just so frustrated with a villain I cannot read on. But with Wendy? I could. I was curious what her next elaborate plan would be and how many wedges did this girl have? We learn quite a bit about her, though there was one fact I saw coming for miles. My daughters loved to hate Wendy Wedge, an awful dictator pf Shoe Town and a great villain along with her nasty assistant and spoilt brat of a son. The writing is wonderfully paced, similar to Tom Gates book, making it an easy read for even the most tired of parent. My only complaint and I even feel silly complaining about it, were the names, I found the shoe references in every name more irksome than entertaining, but the girls didn’t seem to feel the same. I loved how interactive the adventures Ruby and Bear had. The art style had that just-right feeling. Something about it brought me nostalgia from reading Roald Dahl books. I would say it's a lot like Big Nate and Diary Of A Wimpy Kid. It has illustrations throughout, but it's no children's book. On the not-so-good side, we have Wendy Wedge and her spoiled rotten son, Walter. Wendy owns the biggest factory in town. She has recently taken over Ivor’s factory and if she has her way she will take over every shoe factory in town. But for now, she will settle with locating the Flying shoes that she knows Sally created. With those shoes, she’s sure to win the Golden Shoe Award. I was most impressed by the number of serious issues Pichon managed to introduce to her audience without ever flattening the momentum with didactics. She teaches her readers that keeping endangered animals in captivity is bad, that keeping small businesses afloat is better than seeing them taken over by large companies and she even touches lightly on tax evasion! All this and at no time does the story feel clunky or overfilled. It is fast-paced from tip to toe and hilarious every step of the way.