The Mutant Mushroom Takeover
by Summer Rachel ShortPublished by: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers on September 22, 2020
Genres: Science Fiction, Middle Grade
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Source: Author
Stranger Things meets The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl in this lightly spooky debut about Maggie, an aspiring young naturalist, and her YouTuber best friend, Nate, who use their smarts and science to solve the mystery behind a mutant fungus that’s threatening the town.
Ever since Magnolia Stone’s scientist dad left Shady Pines to find a new job, Maggie’s been stuck in her gramma’s mobile home with her grumpy older brother, Ezra. Now she’s on a mission to put her family back together by winning the Vitaccino Junior Naturalist Merit Award.
When Maggie and her best friend, Nate, a wannabe YouTube star and alien conspiracy theorist, scout out a rare bioluminescent fungus, Maggie is certain she’s a shoo-in to win. But after animals around town start sprouting unusual growths and Ezra develops a bluish glow and hacking cough, Maggie wonders what they’ve really stumbled onto.
As things in Shady Pines become stranger and more dangerous, and conversations with her dad get complicated, Maggie must use her scientific smarts and Nate’s impressive knowledge of all things spooky to put things back in order and prevent these peculiar glowing mushrooms from taking over their home.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Protagonists interested in STEM.
- A focus on the environment and life sciences.
- Low-key horror that’s just spooky enough to get your heart racing.
- Delightfully nerdy characters who are into the paranormal.
- Close friendship bonds and teamwork.
- “Something In The Woods” type of horror trope.
- A fun mystery solved using the scientific method.
Many thanks to the author for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
I had absolutely no idea what to expect going into this book. The cover looks delightfully creepy, and a little ’90s sci-fi to me. I figured I’d enjoy it, but I wasn’t prepared to enjoy it as much as I did!
The Mutant Mushroom Takeover is a perfect blend of science, paranormal, and mystery. It’s just scary enough to get your heart racing, but not too scary for young readers.
I think the cover and title are a little misleading, since they make me think of classic horror movies like the big bug movies … except with mushrooms. That is not what this is at all! It’s science at its best, with a compelling mystery, adorable characters, funny banter, and more of a “something’s in the woods” type of a horror feel. And I loved it!
I am just loving this trend of female protagonists who excel at STEM, and Maggie is no exception.
When I was little (and forgive me for dating myself a little bit), STEM was just beginning to be a thing that females could do. Don’t get me wrong, no one was particularly pushing for females to do STEM, but no one was outright discouraging it, either. Oh, and STEM I did, from the time I was three and decided I wanted to be a paleontologist, scooping up all the dinosaur facts and tidbits I could.
So it may not come as any surprise at all that I loved Maggie as a character. She gets her love for science from her father, who happens to be … wait for it … a scientist! And isn’t that often how it starts? Maggie’s love for science is still in that pure childhood phase where everything is just amazing and the world is full of wonders out there left to discover, and I think it will appeal to a range of readers, regardless of whether they’re science buffs or not.
The best thing to me about Maggie’s love of science is the way it gets slipped into the story, in small, unassuming chunks that’ll leave the reader with something to take away and file for later.
The best learning happens, in my opinion, when one doesn’t even realize they’re learning, and this book excels at that. Maggie’s full of interesting sciency facts that get slipped in, and in the end, the mystery is approached and solved using the scientific method, which I absolutely love!
Bang!
“Whoa there. Easy does it.”
“Are you doing something dangerous?” I want to update Dad on everything that happened in the woods, but it sounds like he’s in the middle of a potential catastrophe.
“What? No, kiddo. Just tinkering around a bit. You know me. Having a little fun before work.”
“There’s no smoke or anything, right?”
Dad coughs. “I’d say it’s more of a mist, really. Low-hanging sulfuric cloud, possibly.”
“Dad! Yellowstone has rules about that sorta thing. You could get in trouble!”
“NO worries, Magaroni and Cheese. I’m at a campfire in a designated area. Plus, I’ve got two fire extinguishers on hand if need be.” He coughs. “Everything is one hundred percent under control.”
Sizzle, snap … crackle. “Ouch! Okay … um, actually, I’d better run …”
Take heed: there’s something in the woods! *makes spooky fingers at you*
This is by far one of my favorite horror tropes, especially in middle grade. Maybe not the best for me to read, because I am a stone’s throw away from the woods in my backyard, but hey, what can I say? I like to live dangerously. And, you know, not sleep.
What exactly is in the woods? Well, Maggie’s best friend Nate hopes for aliens … or maybe a cryptid? Instead, they find … science! What a bummer, right? But it’s not quite as simple as that, when Old Man Bell ends up collapsing and dying in front of them, but not before he gives the kiddos some pretty spine-chilling and ominous warnings.
As far as creep levels go, I’d give this four mushrooms out of ten. It’s just spooky enough, without being too much for younger middle grade readers.
Ezra pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’m calling for help.”
Bell groans, and the dogs come closer, nudging Bell with their noses. “Don’t bring nobody else here.” Sparkling blue dots prick along his arms like thousands of lightning bugs signaling in the night. I want to run, but I can’t take my eyes off of him. “Don’t let it out. Promise me, boy.”
Nate and Maggie make an interesting, and often hilarious, team!
They may seem like unexpected friends at first blush, with Maggie firmly grounded in science and Nate more of a conspiracy/paranormal buff. Yet, it’s clear that they’ve been friends for a while and their friendship is solid.
I absolutely loved the banter between these two characters! They’re just enough different that it leads to some fun situations. Not to mention that the way Nate sees the world is unique in its own right. Even when they were in the thick of things and the story was starting to get scary, Nate provided a lot of much-needed humor and levity at just the right times!
I slide over to Nate and put my gloved hands around his. “Of course you’re going to make it. Can you imagine how boring my life would be without you? I’d probably end up ironing Gramma’s dish towels all day with no one to talk to except Pascal. And he only has so much patience for my science.”
Nate grins. “He’d probably poop on your research just to shut you up.”
“Definitely. Cats are petty like that.”
“And nobody takes poo-covered research seriously.”
“They really don’t,” I say.
The mystery in this is super fun and requires teamwork and science to save the day.
Yay for friendship bonds! It’s always a nice thing to see. Of course, there’s also a hint of sibling bonds, too, as an added bonus.
Nate and Maggie accidentally stumble into this mystery, but once it gets going, it really takes off. I was super curious to see how it would end, and it gripped me all the way through! I’ll admit that the ending was a little too easy, but that seems to be the case a lot in middle grade books. At least I can say that I didn’t see it coming!
As I’ve said, I loved the way science and the scientific process are woven into the foundation of the mystery. The kids even get to use a microscope, which is pretty cool. How often do you see that come up in mystery?
Nate’s eyes narrow. “Please tell me you’re not turning the most awesome night of my life into something boring and sciencey.”
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Love the review. The cover looks so great and I will forever laugh at the fact that the place is called Shady Pines.
It sounds like a great book tbh. I’m always up for a little spooky stuff and yay for science.
Thank you! Right? It didn’t hit me at first, but partway through I just heard Dorothy from “Golden Girls” haha. I imagine Sophia would’ve settled everything in this Shady Pines and straightened everyone out real quick if she’d been sent there. 😉