Big Mouth Book

FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD SHERMIE THUFF is a Big Guy with a Big Dream— to become the most famous competitive eater in the world. But every big dream has to start somewhere, and Shermie’s determined to start his in the spotlight. If he can take first place in Nathan’s World Famous International hot dog eating competition, fame will be his. The catch? The current record is 53-1/2 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. Shermie’s personal best? Seven. Clearly, Shermie has some training to do. . . . Only, no matter how hard he tries, he can’t get past nine measly wieners. Then, just when Shermie’s about to crack under the pressure, he gets his biggest shake-up of all: news that the 53-1/2 record holder is an itty-bitty, 130-pound guy. So Shermie vows to lose his restrictive Fat Belt the only way he knows how—with the help of Gardo, a weight-cutting fanatic determined to turn Big Shermie into a lean, mean eating-machine.

Publishers Weekly

"Reversal," what 14-year-old Sherman Thuff calls vomiting, plays a major role in this attenuated story about a boy who plans to become "the fastest, richest, most famous competitive eater in the world"-an ambition born of watching "The Glutton Bowl" on TV. Setting his sights on a July 4th hot-dog eating contest, Shermie enlists his friends as trainers, then engages in a cycle of gorging and "reversals" that come in for prodigiously detailed descriptions. Conveniently, Shermie's science teacher assigns an experiment that familiarizes him with butyric acid, which smells like "vomit. Puke. Throw-up," a passage typical of the sensibility at work. Other ham-handed scenes at Del Heiny Junior High, named for the ketchup manufacturer that serves as its corporate sponsor, revolve around attacks by anonymous "Mustard Taggers." Halverson (Honk if You Hate Me) tries to build up the mystery of who's behind the mustard revolt but the absurdity of this ketchup vs. mustard feud fizzles any real tension. By the time she rolls around to her point, that boys suffer from eating disorders, too, the audience may have checked out. Ages 10-up. (June)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.