This post is sponsored by Michael J. Bowler and hosted by The Children’s Book Review. The review and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal views. In addition, this post may contain affiliate links that you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I may receive a small commission from the sale.
Muppit Boy and the Allergies of Evil by Michael J. Bowler Published by Michael Bowler on May 11, 2026
ISBN: 9798993648606
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 264
Format: eBook
AN INTERNET JOKE AN EVIL GENIUS A HERO IS BORN
Gifted with a brain that works like a video recorder, twelve-year-old aspiring detective Elmo Fitzroy—famous on YouTube, thanks to his mother, as “Muppit Boy” because of really humiliating videos—becomes embroiled in a world-domination plot hatched by an evil scientist out to control humanity with deadly allergies.
Mo’s life plan is simple: ditch his dweeby childhood alter ego and fly under the radar to survive middle school. It backfires big time when he helps his Big Brother mentor—a police detective—investigate an old woman in a clown mask who robs people of their hearing aids.
Little does he realize that chasing clues with friends Barney Kettlewick and Kashvi Jindal will lead to a battle with ugly shoes, pursuit by chainsaw-wielding maniacs, an embarrassingly public rescue by a California condor, a meeting with Homeland Security, and his ADHD soaring into overdrive.
The kid who’s always been a joke must somehow become a hero to save his family, friends, and, well, the whole world.
MY THOUGHTS
Muppit Boy and the Allergies of Evil by Michael J. Bowler follows Mo Fitzroy, a middle schooler who is still trying to escape the shadow of his childhood internet fame as “Muppit Boy,” when a strange break-in, dangerous experiments, and an evil scientist pull him into a wild adventure that quickly becomes bigger than he expected.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw the title, but it made me curious enough to want to read and review it. (Great job cover designers!) What I liked most about this story was that beneath all the humor, weird science, action, and chaos, there was a real story about identity, friendship, and wanting people to see who you really are instead of who they think you are. Mo felt like an actual middle school boy to me. He’s insecure, sarcastic, emotional, funny, embarrassed, brave, and sometimes reactive all at the same time.
I also liked the friendship between Mo, Barney, and Kash. They balanced each other well and felt believable instead of overly perfect. Barney especially had me laughing a few times with his random comments in serious situations.
One thing I really appreciated was that Mo’s embarrassment actually felt real instead of just being played for laughs. Maybe it stood out to me because I started sneaking and reading my older sisters’ Mills & Boon romances way too young. I’m the youngest of eight, so I’d sneak them and read them in the bathroom and under my covers at night.
A lot of those books used public humiliation and emotional embarrassment as a source of conflict. The heroine would get embarrassed by the male lead, his family, her family, some random ex-girlfriend, a jealous woman from work, or Pookie and them…everybody. After a while, I started skipping those scenes because I felt so bad for the character. Even now, if secondhand embarrassment is coming up in a book or movie, I skip over it. In real life, I either try to defuse the situation or throw up the one-less index finger and excuse myself.
So I liked that beneath all the action and Muppit Boy chaos, you could actually see how being laughed at and constantly singled out affected Mo.
What gave me pause was mostly the intensity level. Looking at the title and cover, you expect something goofy and lighthearted, but the story gets much more intense as it goes along, with kidnappings, danger, bullying, experiments, and some creepy moments involving nanotechnology and body modification.
One takeaway I pulled from the story was that labels can stick to people long after they’ve outgrown them. Another was that real friends see you…no matter what.
All in all, this was a very-huggable (4.5 stars) book. I would recommend this to parents of middle-grade readers who enjoy fast-paced superhero-style adventures, quirky humor, underdog characters, and stories about friendship and identity. It really opens the door for discussion of many topics that affect middle school kids today.
If you liked Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex or Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja, you will probably enjoy this one as well.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
About Michael J. Bowler
Award-winning author Michael J. Bowler has been a high school teacher, a volunteer Big Brother to eight boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program, a decades-long volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles, and is a single dad to an adopted child.
GIVEAWAY
Readers who enter this giveaway will have the chance to win one signed hardcover, one of five signed paperback copies, or one of five audiobook downloads of Muppit Boy and the Allergies of Evil by Michael J. Bowler. One grand-prize winner will receive a signed hardcover and a $50 Amazon gift card!
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Thank you, Dee, for your insightful review and for the lovely post you created for my book. I’m grateful that you took the time to feature my story.
Hi Michael, Thanks for stopping by. It was my pleasure!