M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales facts for kids
M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales, also known as Pals in Peril, is a series of children's novels by M. T. Anderson. They are part satire of, and part homage to, classic science fiction and action comic books and children's mystery and adventure series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew or Tom Swift. The black-and-white interior illustrations in the series are done by Kurt Cyrus. They are written for somewhat younger readers than Anderson's other books.
The stories follow the bizarre, exciting, and hilarious adventures of three close friends, Lily Gefelty, Katie Mulligan, and Jasper Dash. Each of these friends is very different from one another. They constantly find themselves solving dastardly mysteries and preventing madmen from gaining control of the world.
The first book in the series, Whales on Stilts, was published by Harcourt in 2005. Parts of it were inspired by the work of H.G. Wells and also by John Christopher's Tripod series.
The books
- Whales on Stilts (2005)
- The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen (2006)
- Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware (2007)
- Agent Q, or the Smell of Danger! (2010)
- Zombie Mommy (with Kurt Cyrus) (2011)
- He Laughed With His Other Mouths (2012)
Characters
The main characters of the series are:
- Jasper Dash. An inventor with a PhD in Egyptology, Jasper is the hero of a fictional series of books about his adventures as a "Boy Technonaut". He is a parody of the Edisonade hero, a genre exemplified by Tom Swift.
- Katie Mulligan. A middle-school student who fights supernatural evil in her own fictional series, Horror Hollow. She is a parody of/homage to such horror series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Goosebumps series.
- Lily Gefelty. A middle-school student, an average American girl.
