Borgel

Borgel
Author	Daniel Pinkwater
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction, Young adult novel
Publisher	Macmillan Publishers
Publication date	April 1990
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	170 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-02-774671-2 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC	20489636
LC Class	PZ7.P6335 Bo 1990

Borgel is a children's novel written by Daniel Pinkwater. This book was published in 1990. It was reprinted in 1993 in the UK, under the title The Time Tourists.

Plot summary

This book is told from the point of view of a young boy named Melvin. Borgel shows up one day at the house where Melvin and his family live, claiming to be somehow related to the family, although no one (apparently not even Borgel himself) is entirely sure how. Borgel is eccentric, to say the least, but in time he befriends Melvin. Melvin often goes to a local cafe with Borgel where Borgel often talks in a strange language with other patrons. One night Borgel invites Melvin to go for a walk with him and the family dog, Fafner. Borgel ends up using a wire hanger to break into his car, a Dorbzeldge.

As they are traveling along the highway Borgel tells Melvin about traveling though time-space-and-the-other. He explains that he is a time tourist, that time is like a map of New Jersey, and that space is like an elliptical bagel with poppy seeds.^[1] Melvin thinks Borgel has gone crazy but soon they are traveling on an invisible highway in time-space-and-the-other. In time-space-and-the-other Fafner can speak, and he repeatedly criticizes Melvin and everything Melvin does.

The trio end up meeting multiple interesting people such as a bloboform, a man who sleeps upside down in trees, and Hapless Toad (the weak son of the genius Evil Toad, who has met the Great Popsicle), among others. They eventually pick up a strange person called Pak Nfbnm*. Pak Nfbnm*, who prefers to be called Freddie, persuades the group to search for the Great Popsicle, one of the 26 most powerful living beings in the universe.

They go to an island in space with a Glugo, an ape they meet in the suburbs of Hell who agrees to help them find the Great Popsicle. Glubgo warns the group that Freddie is a Grivnizoid—a large and vicious species capable of disguising itself, in this case as a normal person. The popsicle is seen frolicking peacefully in the fields and he is surrounded by a feeling of love that rubs off on all others who see the popsicle. In an attempt to gain the power of the popsicle, Freddie eats it (confirming that he is, in fact, a Grivnizoid). Instead of gaining fearsome powers he becomes like the popsicle and begins skipping around the island. The original trio leaves and returns to Earth. They arrive at the same time they left as they had traveled through time.

Controversy

A New York Times article entitled, When Pineapple Races Hare, Students Lose, Critics of Standardized Tests,^[2] landed Pinkwater in the center of an uproar over an altered version of Borgel. A tampered passage from Borgel has appeared in standardized tests for middle-school students since 2007. The test version has caused confusion and anger amongst young fans. Some have gone as far as accusing Pinkwater of being a "sellout."

Availability

This book is out of print in its original form. However it is still in print as a part of 4 Fantastic Novels (ISBN 978-0689834882), a compilation of four popular Daniel Pinkwater books: Borgel; Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario; The Worms of Kukumlima; and The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror.

References