T.V. Sal and the Game Show from Outer Space

Caroline M. Hallsworth is a librarian at Cambrian College in Sudbury.

TV Sal is a young girl who has been watching TV for a solid week when
her television set is invaded by Jack Dee Doubie, a game-show host from
outer space. Jack needs parts to repair his spaceship, so he offers Sal
a stint on an intergalactic game show in return for the parts he needs.
As Sal is absorbed by the television, she switches from channel to
channel and program to program until, after an exhausting 24 hours
touring the TV galaxy she arrives back at Jack’s show and trades her
way home.

The text of this primary-grade novel is choppy, jarring, and echoes the
tone of a television commercial for a local used-car lot. Sal changes
venues as quickly as a TV viewer flips through the channels, making the
plot difficult to follow. The illustrations have a vivid, cartoon-like
quality; however, in places, they are so busy that they are visually
overwhelming and scream to be turned off.

TV Sal and the Game Show from Outer Space is essentially a spoof of the
worst of television and as such will be most appreciated by children who
watch too much television and have not been exposed to better books. Not
a first-choice purchase.