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Jake and the Dynamo Kindle Edition

by D. G. D. Davidson (Author), Roffles Lowell (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
See all formats and editions
Jake Blatowski can’t wait for high school—basketball, calculus, and a cafeteria that isn’t under investigation by the health department.

But he’ll have to wait: A computer malfunction has assigned him to the fifth grade!

It’s bad enough that he bangs his knees on the desks or that Miss Percy is going over long division . . . again . . . but Jake has to sit next to Dana Volt, a perpetually surly troublemaker determined to make his life a living hell.

Worse yet, Dana secretly belongs to a coalition of girls who protect humanity from the horde of deadly monsters plaguing the city—monsters that have chosen Jake as their next target!

Jake’s no hero; he just wants to make it to varsity tryouts. But now the impulsive and moody Dana is the only one who can save Jake from certain death—and Jake is the only one who can save Dana from herself.
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  1. Book 1 of 2
    Jake and the Dynamo
  2. Print length
    391 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    August 1, 2021
  6. Reading age
    13 - 18 years
  7. Grade level
    7 - 12
  8. File size
    8582 KB
  9. Page Flip
    Enabled
  10. Word Wise
    Enabled
  11. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  12. See all details
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From the Publisher

Girls at Work

Worlds of action, adventure . . . and girls!

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

While I was working long days on an archaeological project, I sat down one night to eat a reheated dinner picked up from a gas station while I watched an episode of the anime SHUGO CHARA. That night, probably inspired by the anime, I had a peculiar but vivid dream about a hapless teenage boy who should have been in high school ... but got sent back to fifth grade because of a computer glitch that erased part of his academic record. There, a little girl tormented him mercilessly, and he found to his surprise and chagrin that he couldn't do anything about it. That became the germ of JAKE AND THE DYNAMO. I have had an enormous amount of fun writing about Jake, Dana, and their misadventures with a motley collection of monstrosities and crazy magical girls. I hope you laugh at least half as much while reading this book as I laughed while writing it.

From the Back Cover

Jake Blatowski can't wait for high school--basketball, calculus, and a cafeteria that isn't under investigation by the health department.

Well, he's going to have to wait: a computer malfunction has assigned him to the fifth grade. It's bad enough that he bangs his knees on the desks or that Miss Percy is going over long division ... again ... but Jake's sitting next to Dana Volt. She's a perpetually surly troublemaker who doesn't even have to exert herself to make his life a living hell.

But no, it gets better: Dana secretly belongs to a coalition of girls protecting humanity from the horde of deadly monsters that plagues the city. But Jake's no hero; he just wants to get to varsity tryouts!

When the monsters choose a new target, Jake's not at all surprised that the target is him. Sure, why not? That's the kind of week he's having. Now the impulsive and moody Dana is the only one who can save Jake from certain death--but Jake is the only one who can save Dana from herself.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09968KJK6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Girls at Work; 2nd edition (August 1, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 1, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 8582 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 391 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the author

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D.G.D. Davidson

D.G.D. Davidson

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D. G. D. Davidson is an archaeologist, librarian, and magical girl enthusiast. He is the author of the JAKE AND THE DYNAMO series, featuring the madcap adventures of the luckless Jake Blatowski and the surly Pretty Dynamo.

Davidson makes his home in various places throughout the Midwest, where he pops up unexpectedly at strange times and in strange places. He blogs on occasion, mostly about magical girls, at deusexmagicalgirl.com.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Christopher DiNote
5.0 out of 5 stars I don't know what to make of it, but I like it!
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022
Verified Purchase
This is in the top 5 most unusual good books I've ever read. At turns hilarious in a screwball way that evokes Mel Brooks at his best, surprisingly poignant, and deconstructionist without being destructive, if you can catch my meaning. Look, I'm a 45 year old girl dad, with lots of memories of 80s and 90s anime, and while this deconstructed the magical girl genre (as well as other genres and pop culture works), it did it in a way that doesn't sneer at them or their audiences. It's an authentic love letter, while not shying away from the more questionable elements taken to their extreme absurd implications. The poignancy comes in a deft weaving in of moral and religious themes, adolescence, doomed war for survival and what's worth saving about humanity, and it means to be human. The author actually threads the needle between serious moments and yuk-yuk comedy in the same scene, in way the last two Thor movies only think they did. Recommended, and I can't wait to read the sequel.
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M. H. Payne
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Fun
Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2018
Verified Purchase
I'm not all that familiar with the whole "magical girl" genre, so I'm sure I missed a fair number of jokes and references here. Still, there's a lot of fun and a lot of heart to be found in this first book of Jake and Dana's adventures. It's very much the first book in a series, though, so don't be surprised by the "To Be Continued" on the last page!
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Bruce Parrello
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, insightful, poignant
Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
Side-splitting, thrilling, poignant

This is at once a loving tribute to magical girl anime and an insightful criticism. It is also hilarious. There are times when the laugh lines come so fast you can't catch your breath and other times when the insight is so deep you can feel it all the way inside you. The author is very familiar with his source material and understands the consequences of its tropes far more than the creators that develop it. Jake is very identifiable and you really feel for him. The central magical girls-- Pretty Dynamo, Card Collector Kasumi, and Grease Pencil Marionette-- are deep and well-drawn. You feel their triumphs and their pain. Things you took for granted are exposed from entirely new angles. But it is also rip-roaringly funny. The tale is barely begun and book 2 is nearing completion even as I write this. It cannot come too soon for me!
One person found this helpful
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Rotten Roger
5.0 out of 5 stars excellent farce on the Anime power girl cliches
Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2021
Verified Purchase
When the author is making fun of genre it is excellent. When he is trying to take Power GIrl seriously or trying dry humor on the subject it gets boring.
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PiRsqrd314159
4.0 out of 5 stars intriguing
Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2022
An interesting slant on superheroes. Much action, violence, drama, confusion, and more enemies than easily counted. Looking forward to next book.
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Jeffrey Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, while also making you care about the characters and battles.
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2018
This novel maintains a very nice balance. The premise is that Earth is a battleground and that magical girls have been raised up to protect people. Jake is a young man who does not like magical girls and yet gets caught up with one as the story unfolds.

I was grinning throughout. I always like when the potential for an interesting premise is taken advantage of. This is well done here. Lots of room for laughs and an over-the-top running gag added to this. What I really liked was that this novel could be hilarious while also making fighting scenes meaningful. There are consequences and you come to care for the characters. This is something I rarely see. The battles are not just plot points.

So I definitely am looking forward to the next in the series.
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Tom Bri
5.0 out of 5 stars Laughed until my gut hurt
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2018
If you have an abdominal medical condition, don't buy this book. I literally laughed so hard my gut hurt, several different times. It's that funny, and that good. I'd like to see this done in a full-color illustrated version.
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Bob Kindle
5.0 out of 5 stars Very funny and engaging.
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2018
An adventure story set on an Earth with invading monsters and "Magical Girls." Lots of subtle humor and the characters were quite engaging. looking forward to the next installment!
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