THE PARENT AGENCY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK David Baddiel,Jim Field | 384 pages | 04 Jun 2015 | HarperCollins Publishers | 9780007554485 | English | London, United Kingdom The Parent Agency Quotes by David Baddiel The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Show 0 comments. Sign up Already have an account? Update preferences. Comments Share your thoughts and debate the big issues. Already registered? Log in. Cancel Delete comment. Cancel Flag comment. Independent Premium comments 0 Independent Premium comments Open comments 0 open comments. Join the discussion. Join the discussion Create a commenting name to join the debate Submit. Reply Delete 0 0. It becomes apparent that if you do not choose your parents by the time you are 10 and his tenth birthday is looming, something will happen. Will Barry pick in time? I quite enjoyed the book despite some obvious outcomes from a plot with one theme and character cliches, as there were many laughs. Barry is not the most likeable of boys so if you do not care about a character you might not care to read on through a book which is really quite long, over pages. Some of the jokes were a little flat, I could not help feel that if the outcome had been less predictable, that it would have been a much more suspenseful and ultimately a more enjoyable read. There is the usual goo, snot, silliness and crazy situations, but you can't help feeling that you have read this sort of thing loads of times before. The message is a good one as we have all felt bad about thinking bad thoughts and getting the hump with our parents but I really was hoping for more. Although it does have some entertaining laugh out loud moments, I would not give this book more than 3 and a half stars. Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Everything You Need to Know About The Parent Agency Movie (Announced) Already have an account? Log in here. Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates. Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. There are no Independent Premium comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. There are no comments yet - be the first to add your thoughts. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Barry is not the most likeable of boys so if you do not care about a character you might not care to read on through a book which is really quite long, over pages. Some of the jokes were a little flat, I could not help feel that if the outcome had been less predictable, that it would have been a much more suspenseful and ultimately a more enjoyable read. There is the usual goo, snot, silliness and crazy situations, but you can't help feeling that you have read this sort of thing loads of times before. The message is a good one as we have all felt bad about thinking bad thoughts and getting the hump with our parents but I really was hoping for more. Although it does have some entertaining laugh out loud moments, I would not give this book more than 3 and a half stars. Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Barry Bennett feels the same way. He wishes he had new parents, and finds h Are you parents sooo boring? He wishes he had new parents, and finds himself transported to an a parallel universe, where an organization called The Parent Agency helps kids test drive and select the perfect parents for them. The thing is, picking parents out, even when you have an incredibly detailed list of demands? The Parent Agency is a fun book, with a premise all kids will appreciate: kids who want new parents. Barry meets parents who fit a certain mold, but they expect their children to fit into that mold, too — and who wants to do that? That whole unconditional love business comes into play, and gives Barry the wake-up call he needs. Oct 04, Pop Bop rated it liked it Shelves: reviewed. Barry is unhappy with his parents, they like his sisters best, they're dull, they don't cater to his desires. But, when he enters an alternate world in which kids get to try out new parents, and parents compete to earn a kid's favor, he learns some grass-isn't-always-greener lessons. That's pretty neat, and what early middle grade reader isn't going to be at least intrigued by the premise? The execution, though, was a little schizo. First off, Barry is a first class whinger, and if I were his parent I'd have a few complaints about him. In the first few chapters this gets to be a bit wearing. Just when you've had enough Barry, though, we go through the looking glass and the parent try-outs begin. Barry's first contact with the Parent Agency, which tries to place parents, is very funny and upbeat. Having all of the characters in this alternative world be versions of the characters we met in the previous real world is a clever and entertaining touch and the author does a lot with it. But then we follow Barry as he tries out a few new parents. Here the humor gets pretty heavy handed, as we mock various lifestyles, sporty, health conscious, wealthy, hippie, and so on , and I'm not sure how much off this rather sardonic humor will go over the reader's head. We wrap up with a mixed message sort of ending, and I'm not quite sure how much wiser Barry ends up being for the experience. That's what I mean by the book warming up and then cooling down again. So, it has its moments, and I appreciate what was being done here, but I just never got very enthusiastic about the reading experience. Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book. Jul 26, Valerie McEnroe rated it really liked it Shelves: family , middle-grade , great-britain , humor. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Had no idea what to expect and it turned out to be really entertaining with a great message to boot. Barry hates his name. It's too old-fashioned and he blames his parents. He blames them for a whole list of things. One of which is the lame birthday parties they come up with. Barry is about to turn He loves two things. James Bond and Lionel Messi. They can't even plan a James Bond themed party that is mildly fun. Barry storms off in protest and the ne I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Barry storms off in protest and the next thing he knows he's in an alternate London called Youngdon where couples compete to be chosen by kids to be their parents. He is whisked off to the Parent Agency to find himself a set of parents. The head of TPA gives him a five day package to try out five different sets of parents. First he asks for rich parents, then famous, then athletic, then pushovers, and lastly spoilers. Each set of parents have to plan a birthday party for him. None of them are quite the right fit, so you can pretty much figure out how it ends. My only comment relates to the very present British nuances in the book. Editors replaced British words with American words as much as possible in the American edition mum, lorry, football is changed to mom, truck, soccer , but certain things just couldn't be changed such as the daily tea and London setting.