Cold Cereal by Adam Rex
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I consider myself a fan of Adam Rex in two ways: one, I definitely enjoyed The True Meaning of Smekday, and two, his ideas are always interesting even if his execution feels a little off the mark. Cold Cereal is more the latter.
Cold Cereal is centered around an evil corporate conglomerate attempting to take over the world through cereal. They enslave fey creatures to use as mascots (and worse), and they have grand plans in mind. Two kids, however, are able to see what's going on, and begin trying to stop it.
The book has a lot of positive qualities I enjoyed as an adult. The rabbit, Harvey, is mostly invisible (a nod to the movie of the same name). There's a good deal of Masonic/Illuminati conspiracy involved, and the book spends a good deal of time with different feywild mythologies and Arthurian fables.
As an adult reader, this was great from time to time. As a kid's book, though, it really feels like it's way too out there. The mythology bogs the narrative down, the in-jokes make no sense to the readers this is geared toward, and it ultimately just falls flat. I can't see most kids picking this up and enjoying it, which is really my #1 problem with it at this point. An unfortunate pass.
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