How I Got My Shrunken Head (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
Wow, this book was so COOL!!!!I stared at a head.A human head, wrinkled and leathery. About the size of a tennis ball.The pale, dry lips were pulled back in a sneer. The neck was stitched closed with heavy black string. The eyes - solid black eyes - stared up at me.A shrunken head. A real shrunken head.Mark barely remembers his Aunt Benna. She has been working for the last 12 years on the jungle island of Baladora - he hasn't seen her since he was 4! But now a mysterious woman has come to the door, claiming to be Benna's co-worker. She comes bearing a gift - a shrunken head!Wow. I looked up shrunken heads when I got to this part! So scary!Anyway. Mark is obsessed with the jungle. He loves his new shrunken head. If only he can keep his annoying 8-year-old sister Jessica's paws off of it!But that night, when Mark is lying in bed, trying to go to sleep, the shrunken head starts to glow......Wow, this book is super-exciting! No wonder it was one of my all-time favorite Goosebumps books growing up (along with Why I'm Afraid of Bees and My Hairiest Adventure). We take a normal kid - short, chubby, dark-haired, video-game obsessed - and send him halfway across the world to the deepest jungle! There, he faces tigers, quicksand, and huge fire ants. There's magic in the jungle, too - magic only Mark can control and possess! We have betrayal, guns, espionage and lies! Dum dum DUM!!!!LOL But seriously, a super-cool entry in the Goosebumps series. I enjoyed every page of it! Highly recommended for kids and parents who like exciting stories.
What kind of person would give a real shrunken head to a little boy? You might get arrested for that. And who in their right mind would let their child keep such an ugly little green thing? Anywho this is really hard to review without giving away spoilers, because the book starts off innocently enough with Mark being obsessed with a computer game. Then someone shows up at the door with a gift from his aunt. When you first look at the cover. You see the ugly green goop and read the title you think "Whats so scary about an ugly head? A lot of people have those." Luckily the book isn't centered around the "human" head. Its mostly about the boy looking for his aunt and using his magic powers. Still sounds kinda lame, but it gets interesting towards the middle end. I suggest starting at chapter 5, because that's where the actual story starts. The previous 4 are just build up.Told through male first person.
What do You think about How I Got My Shrunken Head (2003)?
Mark has received a shrunken head that he loves so deeply, but it was a gift from his aunt Benna but she didn't hand it to him. This mysterious women claims to be aunt Benna's friend but mark feels like that isn't true. Marks goes to the jungle island of baladora, in search of his aunt beena that's missing but one night the shrunken head starts to glow and lights up a trial to follow but he asked himself if "this will take me to my aunt Benna?" Also he has a special power and connection with the shrunken head. Can he find his aunt? Can his aunts friends be trusted? Will he survive the jungle? I recommend this book for people who are looking for an adventure, horror book.
—Oscar
This book is even-though bot as thick as the other books i read, it really interest me because, the main character really reminds me of me. He's always loved toys and doesn't really care of anything when I am having a good time. The problem is when i am having a really good time playing a game or just playing toys when i was young is you don;t care whats happening around you and let something bad happens.This book actually taught me something really valuable is that there somethings you have care more about than other things. Over all this book is a really good book and i recommend this to the person that like horror and adventure.
—T
Source: I own this book. Cost: Unknown Title: How I Got My Shrunken Head Series: Goosebumps #39 Author: R.L. Stine Overall Rating: 3.8 starsMark owns a shrunken head, cool right? He's also obsessed with a game called Jungle King which simulates living in the jungle but when he gets the opportunity to visit his aunt in a real life jungle, he's never been so excited. However, things aren't always as they seem and Mark suddenly finds himself in a world of magic and conspiracy. I actually loved this one and I remembered reading it with my older brother as a kid. The cover freaked me out but I loved the idea of living in the jungle. I still do. It was a pretty action packed book for being so short and I am kind of loving revisiting this series. R.L. Stine is the main man.
—Connie
