Vordak The Incomprehensible: Rule The School (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
"So many evil plans, so little time!" This time Vordak designs an "Abominable Age-Reduction Ray" so that he can be younger and in better shape to RULE THE WORLD! Unfortunately, his machine "overshoots his age target" and he's 13 again and forced to go to Farding Jr. High (thanks to a snoopy neighbor who calls the truant officers). But when he learns that Commander Virtue's son goes to this school, an evil plan hatches in his mind. All he had to do is have a career day! Which means he needs to win the student council election so he can make that happen.These books can be funny at times, but they also go a bit too far, I think. I'm sure you can imagine the numerous jokes about "Farding Students". My daughter and I were huge fans of the original Vordak book, though the intended audience was clearly male--which we found a bit perplexing, given how entertained we were by it. Shortly after finishing it, I stumbled upon the Goodreads page for the second book, and we'd been eagerly awaiting it ever since. Some mild spoilers ahead.The best thing about the Vordak books is Vordak himself. He is a very vivid character with a really unique voice. A would-be supervillain, he tends to talk in very grandiose language, to hilarious effect. As a parent, I really appreciate the use of some very large, unusual words--Vordak is a veritable thesaurus. In addition, he is given to making up his own words when he finds regular words lacking, which always causes us to laugh. We now tend to walk around exclaiming "Zounds!", as Vordak is wont to do. We really enjoyed reading another story in Vordak's unique voice, and he's just as outrageous and egotistical as he was in the first.This time, though, Vordak is accidentally shrunken and mistaken for a middle school student. In order to return to his true size, he needs a part that can only be found in his new middle school, so the plot revolves around his machinations to obtain this part and defeat his nemesis, Commander Virtue, in the process. This allowed for a very amusing cast of characters, from Commander Virtue's son to a boy who spends most of the book walking around with an enormous fish on his head to a kid with severe sinus issues. One of my favorite things about this book were the ridiculous and unpronounceable names given to students and a particular lake that is mentioned later in the book.Like the first, this book is a bit of a mixed bag. We get a lot of Vordak's pontificating (which is always entertaining) broken up by amusing drawings related to events in the text. There are also some sort comic book-like sequences, a few hilarious letters written by Vordak and directed to various targets (such as his list of demands for the school's principal as well as some funny notes written to his minions), and some short conversations between Vordak and other characters, which are written in a play-like format. Most amusing of all, though, was Vordak's insult generator. The reader picks a three digit number and then scans the columns to find the corresponding word, which is then used to fill in the blanks in the form. My daughter and I had a lot of fun creating insults for various family members, all of which were completely absurd (for example, one was about a family member enjoying sniffing dirty sneakers). We also really enjoyed seeing the lengths Vordak's neighbor went to in order to ensure he didn't cut through her yard on his way to school.This is a really great franchise that I'd highly recommend to anyone, particularly if your child is a fan of superhero stories. He or she will surely be amused by Vordak's over-the-top antics, which are really more silly than they are evil. I also recommend a visit to Vordak's website. My girl and I are crossing our fingers and hoping we won't have to wait too long for book three!
What do You think about Vordak The Incomprehensible: Rule The School (2011)?
The main character is rude and not very smart but I can see why he 4th grade boys like these books.
—cherryl
Big Nate read alike, highly illustrated but not graphic novel
—Mel
My 8.5 yr old son is TOTALLY enthralled with this book.
—Lis
