Chuck Dugan Is AWOL is the one and only novel by Eric Chase Anderson
I like to tell my daughter that every kid has a super power. For one particular boy in her class, it’s math. For others, it’s soccer or gymnastics. Ada’s superpower is wrapped up in stories, on both the giving and receiving end. At the ripe old age of 7, she can tell a complex and coherent story that goes on for 20 minutes straight, and she will sit still for hours if the book we’re reading is interesting to her.
And when it comes to listening to stories, the more complex the tale, with multiple twists and turns and unexpected digressions, the better. Which is why Eric Chase Anderson’s Chuck Dugan Is AWOL was a perfect choice to read aloud, even though it is ostensibly for teenagers and above. The book has everything you need– a coerced marriage, evil admirals, pirates, bicycles riding off rooftops, disguises, whales, hotel lobbies, maps and lost treasure. Plus brilliant illustrations in the form of intricately labeled diagrams and maps that look like something straight out of a Wes Anderson film.
A map of the Dugan family boathouse in Maine.
Which makes perfect sense because this book was written by the eccentric director’s brother (Eric Anderson/Wes Anderson… get it..?) Clearly the Anderson family is not lacking in the imagination dept.
A buoy/hideout in the middle of the bay.
The only downside is that the novel does, eventually, come to a close. My distraught daughter had me scouring the internet in search of a sequel that has yet to be written. It took her a week to recover from this unhappy turn of events, which is understandable in this age of 7 Harry Potters, 51 Magic Treehouse books and 6, oh-no-wait 7, Star Wars movies. Though to be honest, the stand alone-ness of this story makes it all the more worthwhile.
Not one to take things lying down, my daughter is in the process of pleading with Mr Anderson, in letter form, to write another installment.
I’ll keep you posted.
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