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2015 Nominee

Creature Department

Written by Robert Paul Weston.
Published in 2013 by Razor Bill(Penguin).

It’s a tentacled, inventive, gooey, world in there. . . .

Elliot Von Doppler and his friend Leslie think nothing ever happens in Bickleburgh, except inside the gleaming headquarters of DENKi-3000—the world’s eighth-largest electronics factory.

Beneath the glass towers and glittering skywalks, there’s a rambling old mansion from which all the company’s amazing inventions spring forth. And no one except Uncle Archie knows what’s behind the second-to-last door at the end of the hall.

Until Elliot and Leslie are invited to take a glimpse inside.

They find stooped, troll-like creatures with jutting jaws and broken teeth. Tiny winged things that sparkle as they fly. And huge, hulking, hairy nonhumans (with horns). It is unlike anything they’ve ever seen.

But when Chuck Brickweather threatens to shut down the DENKi-3000 factory if a new product isn’t presented soon, the creatures know they are in danger. And when Uncle Archie vanishes, it’s up to Elliot, Leslie, and every one of the unusual, er, “employees” to create an invention so astonishing it will save the Creature Department.

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8 thoughts on “Creature Department

  1. Stratford school

    It is an amazing book.But I thought it was weird when Lesile and Elliot were taking about kissing.

  2. St. Jerome

    Amazing!! The great description plus great story makes it a wonderful read to readers. The creatures were described with style. When I read the description of Jean-Remy I thought, he is super small!! Impossible to resist.

  3. Hillurst School

    RM.B.A. Book Review – The Creature Department By Robert Paul Weston

    This is a book review on The Creature Department by Robert Paul Weston. The book is about one and one girl, Elliot von Doppler and Leslie Fangs, who try to help DENKi-3000 stay open. DENKi-3000 is a company that is the world’s fifth largest electronics factory. Only Professor von Doppler, Elliot’s uncle, knows all of the secrets of DENKi-3000. When Chuck Brickweather, a worker at Quazicom threatens if DENKi-3000 will be taken over by Quazicom, if the company doesn’t come up with a new product. During this time, Uncle Archie disappears. Quazicom “adultnapped” him and used a machine to steal his ideas. Luckily, Elliot and Leslie save him just in time. At the end, everything is fixed.

    I think the book from my point of view was really good. At first, it seems realistic, until the professor said that only one person could enter the Research and Development Centre. Then, when Elliot and Leslie ask who could go in, the professor magically somehow went in. The story is a magical story that makes it a special story. The “science” connection makes the story connect with the “magic” connection.

    In my opinion, the book can have some little tweaks. I think the book should have some more of the “villains” thoughts like the chief, Chuck Brickweather and Monica Burkenkrantz. The book probably should have way more information on Famous Freddy’s point of view. I think the author should have written what professor thought about the problem.

    I would recommend this book to other people. The book is a well-written book. I think even if the book may need a little more “tweaks”, overall, it was good. This book has a funny connection with science but it really doesn’t teach you anything on science. This concludes my book review on The Creature Department.

  4. Hillhurst school

    For my first RMBA book review I chose to do the creature department. This book is about two kids, Elliot Von Doppler and Leslie Fang. Elliot’s father is the head of the creature department and he works with all sorts of creatures each which are different than the other. But about halfway through the book The creature department finds out that Elliot’s father has disappeared and another company wants to take over the creature department it’s up to Elliot and Leslie to find Elliot’s father and stop the other company from taking over.
    I think people should read this book because this book is funny, creative and adventurous. The author was very creative in his characters, making them crazy, intelligent creatures. This is also a funny book because one of the “people” was actually a creature that was disguised by a product called knoo yoo juice. And last but not least this book was adventures because Elliot and Leslie had to climb a really tall tower and they could’ve gotten their heads injured because their device backfired and it sizzled and sparked because a glop of snot hit it.
    People should also read this book because it’s not really a book for a certain gender, it all depends on their likes and dislikes. For example, if you like dresses and makeovers this might not be the book for you. If you like monsters and animals you will probably enjoy this book.
    In conclusion, I think you should read this book because it is funny, adventurous, and creative. Also, this isn’t a book for boys or girls, it all depends on your personality.

  5. Hillhurst School

    The book that I am voting for is The Creature Department. In the book, a boy named Elliot and his friend Leslie are invited to take a look inside the headquarters of Denki-3000, the world’s fifth-largest electronics company. Inside the headquarters, they find an old, crumbling mansion where all of Denki-3000’s ideas are created. In the mansion, they discover the best kept secret in Bickleburgh-The Creature Department. In The Creature Department there are creatures of all shapes and sizes that all work together to create inventions. But when Quazicom threatens to shut down Denki-3000 forever and Professor Archie (head of The Creature Department) vanishes, it’s up to Elliot and Leslie and The Creature Department’s employees to save Denki-3000.
    I think that the theme of the book is to never give up. This is because throughout the whole book none of the characters gave up on any of their ideas or inventions. If something was in their way, they persisted and got past it.
    For example, when the creature department tried to find the right essences to power the rocket boots that would save Denki-3000, they used many different essences and had to persist before successfully powering the rocket boots.
    Another example is when Uncle Archie vanishes. The others kept on going without him. They knew that Uncle Archie was making an invention at the time, so they tried to complete his invention.
    In conclusion I personally think that you should never give up because if you give up that means that you have not tried hard enough. I think that everyone should read this book for enjoyment. This book has many twists and turns and is a great book for all ages.

  6. Hillhurst School

    The Creature Department Book Review

    Meet Elliot von Doppler, son of food critics who are ironically horrible chefs. Although Elliot’s parents want him to follow in their footsteps, Elliot wants to be more like his uncle, Archie von Doppler, head scientist in the world’s 5th biggest tech company, DENKi-3000. When Archie invites Elliot and fellow science fair competitor Leslie for a tour of DENKi-3000, they discover the secret in the tech company’s groundbreaking inventions resides in the Creature Department. Elliot and Leslie meet a mixture of outlandish creatures that work for DENKi-3000. Archie then reveals he actually brought them to the Creature Department to save the company from being bought by the giant company Quazicom, and if they don’t invent anything soon, DENKi-3000 will be sold. The whimsical adventure then takes off with rocket boots, with surprising plot twists and detailed illustrations.

    The story might seem like an amusing tale about peculiar creatures messing around at first, and it mostly is, the laughs along the way are the first thing that pulls the readers in and gives them the most amusement. Two kids hiding in gigantic dumplings to sneak into a secret facility or a hysterical review of a dreadful breakfast are sure to please the reader. But emotions also serve a big part in the story since the creature’s society would not function without feelings, or the elusive invention that could save the whole company. New inventions needs three intangible essences, basically the elements of the periodical table in creature science, but an incredible quantity more. The first two essences are simple, such as loneliness. The last essence needs to be an extremely obscure one, like the sound of a dolphin’s click. If the combination is right, the invention should be perfect.

    A good example of an invention reliant on emotions is the Expectavator, an elevator which essentially relies on the emotions optimism and pessimism to go up or down. The Expectavator also needs an operator to prevent the optimism from going too high by adding pessimism. Another example of moral lessons in the book is the story of Chuck Brickweather. Brickweather is a representative sent by Quazicom that also has a self-consciousness issue. He regularly drinks a bitter juice that makes him supposedly better looking and skinnier. Eventually he accepts his appearance and quits drinking the juice, a moral lesson for all readers.

    Emotion scattered around the book serves as it’s secret backbone and the frequent comical mischief gives it’s charm. It is a worthwhile read and I recommend this book for these reasons above, and I hope you will read it too and spread the word about this book, as it much deserves it.

  7. Hillhurst

    R.M.B.A Book Review, The Creature Department by Robert Paul Weston

    For years, 12-year-old Elliot has been begging his Uncle Archie for a tour of DENKi-3000 headquarters, where they make crazy inventions like Transmints, breath mints that use the Web to transmit memories. Uncle Archie works in the most secret department of all, completely off-limits even to the company’s CEO. Finally the letter arrives, inviting him and, mysteriously, his classmate Leslie, whom he only knows as his fellow third-prize winner at the science fair. Together they discover a secret world right in their sleepy small town: a whole team of creatures working on those amazing inventions, using special “creature technology”. Only, they haven’t built anything amazing that actually works in so long that the company’s in danger of being sold. When Uncle Archie goes missing, it’s up to Elliot and Leslie to help the creatures create an invention that will save the company, and they only have until Friday to do it.

    In my opinion, The Creature Department is definitely a monster book the youngest tweens can handle. Nothing scary about the creatures that work as inventors. Even the creatures meant to be the bad ones are arguing and silly, with each as an enlarged version of an ear, eye, nose, mouth, or hand who argue among themselves. The monster science that combines many essences is the best part. All the funny invention names that head the chapters add almost as much as the illustrations. There are a lot of big ideas and crazy creatures big and small floating around here.

    My other opinion is a negative one. The Creature Department hasn’t quite settled into the story details. For one, it relies a bit too heavily on the art to describe all the creatures. The descriptions of monsters seem more like rough sketches, and they take away the sense of wonder Elliot and Leslie must have for the incredibly weird world they’ve just entered. Also, when the kids get to invent, the process seems too quick. Can a telepathy helmet, even a damaged one, occur in one night? And are Elliot and Leslie like genius that can navigate and study creature technology on their first try?

    My conclusion for this book review is that I would recommend this book to 7 year olds and to the youngest tweens. Again, I think the Creature Department is great, except for a few flaws/tweaks. But Elliot and Leslie, two 12-year-olds, are just discovering their promise as inventors and there’s lots of talk about Leslie’s grandfather, an amazing dim sum chef, drinking the cooking wine.

    ~Elyssia


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