Grasshopper Glitch (S.W.I.T.C.H.)

By: Ali Sparkes
Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing
Publication Date: January 2013
ISBN: 978-1467707121
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: February 2013

Danny and Josh Phillips were waiting for a ride to school. Of all things they were going to be stuck riding with Miss Petty Potts, a crazy genius who invented S.W.I.T.C.H. spray in her super duper secret underground laboratory. The two eight-year-old twins, in spite of having “come close to being crushed, drowned, splatted, pecked hollow, swatted, mummified, and eaten” were kind of looking forward to changing into reptiles. In the meantime, they’d have to get to school in that ancient contraption she called a car. It was so old it didn’t even have seat belts.

S.W.I.T.C.H., the Serum Which Instigates Total Hijack, turned them into spiders the first time the spray got on them. Danny hated bugs, but Josh was a “freaky little bug geek.” When they went looking for Piddle, their dog, they met up with Petty. They’d agreed to be her assistants because she was missing half the cubes she needed for the REPTOSWITCH. In spite of their little “housefly adventure,” Josh and Danny had to admit that the chance to become a reptile was a whole lot more interesting than turning into a creepy-crawly. Turning into a lizard would be awesome!

Miss Mellor was checking out their lunches to see how healthy they were. Of course Claudia had junk like hummus, but not Danny. He had lemon s-o-d-a with plenty of sugar in it and he was going to chug it down right in front of that stuck up Claudia, who claimed he’d ruin his teeth. Danny took a swig and began to yell, “Ugggg! This isn’t our usual soda! Yuck!” Josh turned to say something to his brother when all of a sudden he spotted Billy who was getting ready to slam his book down on a creepy-crawly grasshopper. That chirruping “bright green grasshopper” was none other than Danny. If he didn’t get smooshed would Josh be able to find the antidote in time?

Josh and Danny Phillips find themselves in big time trouble when they turn into grasshoppers. Of course they didn’t know that Miss Potts had her secret formula, the Serum Which Initiates Total Cellular Hijack (S.W.I.T.C.H.), in a bottle that looked exactly like their lemon soda. Young readers, especially reluctant ones, will love the eight-year-old twins’ accidental adventure and encounter with mad scientist, Miss Petty Potts. The touch of sci fi was perfect and tension was high when Josh tries to rescue his twin before someone squashed him or another critter had him for lunch. If you’ve got a youngster who likes double trouble blended with wacky sci fi, this is one series to consider!

Quill says: These fun, energetic twins are double trouble in the new adventure series, S.W.I.T.C.H, a series to watch out for!