''Borgel'' is a children's novel by

Daniel Pinkwater Daniel Manus Pinkwater (born November 15, 1941) is an American author of children's books and young adult fiction. His books include ''Lizard Music'', ''The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death'', ''Fat Men from Space'', '' Borgel'', and the p ...

published in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Plot summary

The story is narrated by the young Melvin Spellbound who joins his eccentric Uncle Borgel and pet dog Fafner on an intergalactic adventure involving

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

and multiple alternate realities. Travelling along the Interstate Highway connecting the various realities, Borgel is separated from the others by a mischievous

teleportation Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...

(called a 'bilbok'), and Melvin and Fafner stranded at a roadside

root beer Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree '' Sassafras albidum'' or the vine of ''Smilax ornata'' (known as sarsaparilla, also used to make a soft drink, sarsaparilla) as the ...

stand. Having waited for him, Melvin and Fafner take control of his car, and recover Borgel ''en route''. Thereafter the three rest at a public campsite, where they acquire a new companion in 'Pak Nfbnm*', alias 'Freddie': a self-professed expert on popsicles, in search of an immortal 'Great Popsicle' whose existence maintains the integrity of the

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. A ...

. Pursuing that search, they receive directions from a computer made in the image of the Popsicle, to the anthropomorphic

gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four ...

'Glugo', who conveys them to an island on the River

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, ...

. There, and elsewhere, Freddie is identified as a Grivnizoid, a shape-changing,

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda ( Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, ...

-like predator, desirous of achieving insurmountable power. Can they stop Freddie in time and save the world?

Controversy

An excerpt from Borgel was used as a question in a New York State test for 8th grade students in 2012. The question caused controversy over its nonsensical nature, stumping both students and teachers as to the correct answers. The confusion led to articles in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. In the original novel, Uncle Borgel tells another absurd fable about an eggplant and a rabbit having a race. The New York state exam changed the characters to a pineapple and a rabbit and then asked students a series of ambiguous multiple-choice questions based on the story.

Availability

This book is out of print in its original form. However it is still in print as a part of ''4 Fantastic Novels'' (), a compilation of four popular Daniel Pinkwater books: ''Borgel''; '' Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario''; ''

The Worms of Kukumlima ''The Worms of Kukumlima'' is a humorous book written by Daniel Pinkwater for all ages and first published in 1981. Plot summary Protagonist/narrator Ronald Donald Almondotter, having accepted an internship under his maternal grandfather, Seumas ...

''; and ''The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror''. It was reprinted in 1993 in the United Kingdom, under the title ''The Time Tourists.''

References

{{Daniel Pinkwater 1990 American novels 1990 science fiction novels American comedy novels American children's novels American science fiction novels American young adult novels Children's science fiction novels Novels about time travel 1990 children's books