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Furry and Flo Book 1: The Big Hairy Secret
by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
Stephen Gilpin, illustrator
Capstone Young Readers
5 Stars
Back Cover: Flo Garner isn’t exactly thrilled when she and her mom move into Corman Towers, a giant apartment building in the middle of the city. To call their new home strange is a major understatement. And things only get weirder when she meets Ferdinand, better known as Furry. It doesn’t take Flo long to realize that there’s more than one secret lurking in her new home.
Opening: “Are you excited to be starting fourth grade at your new school, Florence?” the school secretary asked.
“That’s not my name,” the girl said, glaring at the woman. She clamped her lips closed into a frown and crossed her arms in front of her chest to show she meant business.
About the Story: Flo and her mom move into Corman Towers, a gigantic apartment house. They now live on the seventeenth floor in this 34-floor behemoth. Their first encounter with a neighbor involves a young boy zooming past the elevator in his undies. Odd? Corman Towers has more oddity than one little kid zipping past an open elevator. Someone, or rather some vicious animal, takes a large bite out of Flo’s grocery sack as it waits in the hallway for Flo.
Flo soon meets Furry, the boy who lives across the hall. He gives her a tour of the building and while in the laundry room, a group of young spiders ran out from under a machine, causing Furry to scamper atop a washer to get way. There are spider eggs all over the building each about the size of a tennis ball. Since odd thing tend to occur in sets of three, the third oddity at Corman Towers is a blue glowing crack in the floor behind the dryers.
Furry thinks the crack is awesome but the old janitor tells the kids to leave it alone. What is going on at Corman Towers?
What I Thought: I hate spiders. Don’t care the kind, shape or size, I hate them. I loved the tone of Furry and Flo until the spiders all crawled out from under the washing machine. Then the story settled me down and just when I was getting comfortable, Flo steps on a large egg. Gross. Big “Ew!” escaped my mouth. Other than the spiders, the book is very good. Not all kids advance at the same rate so it was nice to see more complicated sentences than I have seen in other early readers.
There are a few illustrations in Furry and Flo: The Big Hairy Deal. Most are one page, edge-to-edge black and white—actually black, white and grey—that added nice visuals for most of the main plot points. Furry is a skinny, skinny boy, who loves to run around the tower in his underwear. Grandma doesn’t seem to mind and the tenants never complain, except the new mom and daughter on the seventeenth floor.
If you like stories where opposites attract you just might like Furry and Flo. The kids are definitely opposites, but as the story progresses I think the two will learn they are more similar than not. Until then, these two opposites do become good friends and investigative buddies. The story will easily capture the attention of both boys and girls. Furry and Flo: The Big Hairy Deal is decidedly off my comfort zone, but the writing, the plot, the tempos in which the story unfolds is perfect. I plan to read the next book, released sometime in October . . . as long as it is not about spiders.
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Furry and Flo Book 1: The Big Hairy Secret 
by Thomas Kingsley Troupe website blog facebook twitter
Stephen Gilpin, illustrator website blog facebook twitter
Capstone Young Readers website blog facebook twitter
Released August 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62370-033-1
28 pages including a short preview of book 2
Ages: 7 to 9
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COMING OCTOBER 2013!COMIN
Furry and Flo Book 2: The Problems with Goblins
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© 2013 by Capstone Young Readers, used with permission
Text copyright © 2013 by Thomas Kingsley Troupe
Illustrations copyright © 2013 BY Stephen Gilpin
Capstone Young Readers is an imprint of Capstone
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BOOK DONATED TO LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY OR SCHOOL
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Kids Lit Review 
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I like spiders. I rescue them all the time–like in the office where I work and where people might step on them, I put them in my drawer where they’ll be safe. Of course, I give them food and water.
This book sounds very cool! Thanks for the great review, you spider scardy-cat. Haha.
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Ugh! Are you serious? In a dental office you have a drawer full of questionably venomous spiders waiting to attack an unsuspecting drawer opener looking for a paper clip? How awfully you! 😆 If we ever meet, I will not open one drawer, cabinet, box, package, bottle, or jar. Ever. Never!
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Umm, you opened my book package,
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Then I guess her medicine cabinet is safe, huh? 😉
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This sounds like an interesting book… Especially the kid running around in his underwear. Weird. I think I would like the book! 😀
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The underwear part is weird . . . for a while, then it makes perfect sense. I would be running around in undies if in Furry situation. I bet you would too, especially since you like this characteristic. 😀
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HEY!!! I’m not that bad! I just said it was INTERESTING!!! *huff* >:-(
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LOL somehow I don’t think I have anything to do with it, but here…let me help you out…*untying your tongue* 😉
So you’re saying that when this is released, it will be classified as a Chapter Book or Easy Reader? I know I’ll recognize it immediately if they keep it “face out” since you posted it here 🙂
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I may be confused on this, but I think a chapter book and an early reader are essentially the same thing. I will check this out with the publisher and let you know. I guess I need to know too. If you can untie my tongue when it gets twisted, possibly a full-time job, I will hire you for the translation job. 😉
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I don’t know how helpful I’d be at translation, Sue. I only speak one language: Muddle Befuddle 😀
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Mom hates spiders, too. I help her whenever I see one. I stare at it and pop up and down like popcorn. It’s one of the few things I don’t eat. Mom wishes I would. I like a book that starts out with a kid dressed in underwear. Yay!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
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You stare at spiders and then jump up and down like popcorn? And this scares the spider away? I wonder if it will work if I were to do that? I know it would make a few people laugh, possibly even my cats, but if it works the humiliation will be worth it. Thanks for the tip Cupcake. You are as sweet as your name. 😉
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Thank you for this great review! I’ve been looking for some good middle grade books to read lately (they’re “…my glory”), and this one looks great! I’ll give it to my son when I’m done, too. 🙂
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Hi Jessica. Welcome to Kid Lit Reviews! You and your son will enjoy this series. A few twists along the way that will keep everyone guessing. I hope the two of you enjoy! Book 2 is out in October. 🙂
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LOL, Sue! I’m with you on the spiders and I think a lot of people would be, too! The author probably included it specifically ’cause it’s such a common fear and wanted the “Ew!” factor 🙂 In fact, when you mentioned that, I figured it was more geared for boys except for Flo being the main character. Then you said it would suit both 🙂 You’ve certainly made me curious!
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The book has two main characters: Furry and Flo. Each new book will have the two in a new adventure. I don’t know if they will continue to find out the secrets of the tower they live in or go out of doors.
The series is a good early reader. Heck, I enjoyed it! Wait, I mean, it was a good book and I had fun reading it, and . . . oh, heck! I liked the story! I want to read book two and hope to bring that one here in October. All kids who like mysteries will love this series.
How do yo get me so tongue tied?
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