Little Bigfoot, Big City by Jennifer Weiner, Book 2 of the Littlest Bigfoot series, a review
Published 2017 by Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing, 317 pages
Genre: Middle grade fantasy, aimed at readers approximately 12 years old
I was trying to get a recently published book to read and ended up with this one, which has a unique challenge for me: it’s book 2 of a series, and I hadn’t read book 1.
I decided that it was a decent test of a mid-series book, if someone could pick it up cold and still enjoy it. So, how did this one fare? Keep reading!
In this story world, a bigfoot is a creature very like a human but bigger, more athletic, more long-lived, much hairier, and gentler and nicer. Also able to tiptoe around in their woodland habitat and not be seen by klutzy humans. They have settlements in upstate New York and some other places.
Millie is a small bigfoot, a girl who just wants to leave her too-familiar village and see some of the world. She has a lovely singing voice and decides to try out for a televised talent competition. It’s her dream to win it. She enlists the help of Alice, a human who seems to have bigfoot tendencies, who thinks Millie is a homeschooled human and lends her a laptop. Alice, meanwhile, wonders if she herself could be part bigfoot and thinks she must have been adopted.
And then there’s Jeremy, a boy their age who’s obsessed with finding a bigfoot. He’ll do almost anything to meet one.
Government bad guys enlist Jeremy to help them kidnap a bigfoot, and the bad guys and Jeremy are soon in New York City following Millie and Alice to their talent competition.
What follows involves a chase, some plot twists, and an ambiguous role for Jeremy.
What do I think?
In fact I was able to pick up what I needed to know to read book 2 without reading book 1. That’s very good!
The book kept my interest, and I was intrigued by the bigfoot idea and the personal journeys of Millie and Alice as they pursued their quests (Millie to win the talent competition, Alice to find out who her real parents are.) Jeremy is a wonderfully conflicted character. So I may even go so far as to check out Book 1! And then read Book 3 when it comes out, which may be pretty soon.
Four stars: ****
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@Barrie Summy
What an interesting way to test the readability of the mid-book of a series! Glad it worked out. And I think this book sounds very fun! Thanks for reviewing!
That is a good test of middle book in a series to read it first.
I live in Bigfoot country here in Coastal BC. They even did a TV series filmed north of where I live. I don’t know if they really exist, but there are many First Nation stories about them from times past. Of course, oral histories can evolve over time, but with so many nations having the same myths it’s hard not to believe there was (or is) something out there. – Margy
Whenever possible I like to read books in the order they’re intended to be read but it’s more important to me that each of the books be stand alone books that if you read them out of order you’re not completely lost. Sounds like this one fits that bill. Glad worked out. Thanks for reviewing.
Interesting to hear that! It’s not part of local lore where I come from (midwest and south).
Interesting concept. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a book with bigfoot characters before! Good review.