MICROPOLIS – THE ADVENTURE OF JOHNNY REDBLOOD
Cory Mertes
Outskirts Press (2014)
ISBN 9781432750886
Reviewed by Marten Weldon (age 10) for Reader Views (9/15)
“Micropolis – The Adventure of Johnny Redblood” by Cory Mertes is about the battle that ensued in 10-year-old Sarah’s body because she stepped on a sea urchin that had a virus named Tyrus. The book describes Sarah’s body as a city named Micropolis. Inside Micropolis, Johnny Redblood and his friends Emily Enzyme, Ashley, General White, and others decide to respond and attack Tyrus and his evil buddies Grim and Clyde. Will they succeed? You must read the book to find out.
I am not sure if the purpose of this book was just to entertain or if it was to educate people about how the human body responds to germs. In either case, the story was not very exciting to me and I found the information about what goes on in the body confusing. For example, there are several times that Johnny Redblood mentions how very long it will take him to get to Ankle Ridge (the location of the injury); in reality, it only takes about a minute for a red blood cell to circulate around the entire body. Plus, it is kind of hard to figure out if some of the city structures like the Central Gardens are analogies to something real inside the human body. I liked the idea of an adventure inside the body but had trouble imagining and getting into this one because I kept thinking of true things I know about the body.
“Micropolis – The Adventure of Johnny Redblood” by Cory Mertes might interest kids who like unique books. People should not expect this book to be exact science or health facts. Instead they should forget what they know and have fun with the story.
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