Now, I've read the Goosebumps book Attack of the Mutant by R.L. Stine more than once, and I think it's really neat, as well as highly intriguing and superbly inspiring too.

The protagonist, 12-year-old Bradley "Skipper" Matthews, is highly neat and relatable, as well as superbly well-written, too. Basically, right from the beginning of the book, it is shown he is a fan of comic books, while his classmate Wilson Clark (whom he is friends with) likes rubber stamps. (Sometimes, Skipper says, he wonders if Wilson had come from the planet Mars, as Wilson is confused and doesn't know anything.) Skipper even points out that Wilson leaves his math book at school, so he makes a point of coming over to Skipper's house so he can get the math homework from him.

However, while Skipper likes comic books and finds them to be amazingly awesome, his father is shown to be quite a different story (mostly because he has a hunch on why Skipper's grades haven't been so good lately, which turns out to be correct when Skipper says he thinks it's because he isn't a very good student, and partly because, as Skipper reveals, he had been warned three times about spending so much time with his comic book collection):

Dad reminds me of a big bear. Not only because he growls a lot. But because he is big and broad. He has short black hair and almost no forehead. Really. His hair starts almost right above his glasses. And he has a big, booming roar of a voice, like a bear's roar.

Well, after I answered him back, he let out an angry roar. Then he lumbered across the room and picked up my carton of comic books — my entire collection.

"Sorry, Skipper, I'm tossing these all out!" he cried, and headed for the door. (p. 10)

You see, Dad has done this before. Lots of times. But he doesn't really mean it.

He has a bad temper, but he's no supervillain. Actually, I'd put him in the League of Good Guys most of the time.

His main problem is that he doesn't approve of comic books. He thinks they're just trash. Even when I explain that my collection will probably be worth millions by the time I'm his age. (p. 11)

(From my perspective I usually find comic books to be pretty neat, and I would point out to Skipper's parents that at least Skipper is reading something he likes; plus, I'd inform them not to judge his reading material, but to keep an open mind about it.) Plus, the superheroes that Skipper reads about in the comic book 'The Masked Mutant' — which are about the League of Good Guys and the titular villain called the Masked Mutant — are really neat, as well as superbly intriguing in their own way.

Of course, if I had to pick a favorite part of this book, it would definitely be this one:

After school the next afternoon, I had to go with my mom to the mall to buy sneakers. I usually try on at least ten or twelve pairs, then beg for the most expensive ones. You know. The ones that pump up or flash lights when you walk in them.

But this time I bought the first pair I saw, plain black-and-white Reeboks. I mean, who could think about sneakers when an invisible building was waiting to be discovered?

Driving home from the mall, I started to tell Mom about the building. But she stopped me after a few sentences. "I wish you were as interested in your schoolwork as you are in those dumb comics," she said, sighing.

That's what she always says.

"When is the last time you read a good book?" she continued.

That's the next thing she always says.

I decided to change the subject. (p. 37)

(Now that's what I call a slice of life from Skipper's point of view right there. However, I'd tell Mrs. Matthews that the day will come when Skipper will keep something to himself instead of telling her, so it's best to listen to him when he makes an effort to explain about something now.) 

Of course, there is one thing I noticed about Skipper — he has a fear of getting lost:

I had a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. I have a real fear of getting lost.

My mom says that when I was two, she lost me for a few minutes in the frozen foods section of the Pic 'n Pay. I think I've had a real fear of getting lost ever since. (p. 30-31)

When I read that part for the first time, it reminded me of this really neat part in the book The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb: 

One thing about me is that I have a really good sense of direction. Mom and Dad always say they don't need a map when I'm around. I almost always know when I'm heading the wrong way. (p. 63)

Basically, Gabe Sabry, the 12-year-old protagonist in that book, is quite different from Skipper — he has a good sense of direction, and doesn't have a fear of getting lost at all.

All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes scares, comic books, superheroes or all three. And I give it five stars too (although ten stars would be even better). 🏆😊