Everyone has his or her obsessions. I like pecans.

Jake Waters is the main character in Out of Patience. He wants to get out of Patience, Kansas as soon as possible. His father, Jim Waters, collects . . . well, he collects toilet plungers. Actually, the plungers are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. J. Waters, who is of course a plumber, also collects other various and sundry toilet and plumbing paraphernalia, utensils, equipment, and accoutrements. He doesn’t collect all this stuff for business purposes either; he’s planning to build the ATM, American Toilet Museum. Yes, the father in this quirky novel is “a half-bubble off plumb.”

Actually, the entire story is about a half-bubble off plumb, or as I like to say, downright quirky. Examples. You want examples?
Jake’s Pakistani friend Cricket is working on a summer project called “Kansas: 100 Freaky and Fascinating Facts.” For example, in 1908, the Kansas legislature passed a law against eating snakes in public.

The biggest and only business in Patience is Knight Soil and Fertilizer which produces fertilizers with the names such as “Dung Shui” and “Pie-Agri”.

In addition to fertilizer, Patience has a curse, the the Cass Curse of the Plunger of Destiny.

Patience also boasts in its history the first flush toilet west of the Mississippi: an original Dolphin Deluge Washdown Water Closet installed by Jeremiah Waters in 1876 at the request of his wife Regina.

So . . . yeah. If you’re intrigued, read Out of Patience. If you’re mildly amused, you might still want to pick up a copy. It’s potty humor, but it’s not really too tasteless. If you’re appalled already by the examples above of quirky humor, don’t bother.

I looked up author Brian Meehl and found out that he’s actually Barkley the Muppet dog from Sesame Street. That explains everything, I think.

He also shares this interesting fact in his bio:

BEST PIECE OF TOILET TRIVIA I COULDN’T WORK INTO OUT OF PATIENCE: My great-great-grandfather was a justice of the peace in Missouri in the late 1800s. After administering marital vows to a pair of newlyweds, he had a special way of reminding them of the domestic life they were about to share. He asked them to toast their marriage by drinking from a chamber pot filled with beer and a German sausage.

You’ll either love Out of Patience< or hate it. Me? I haven’t decided yet.

This book is another of those nominated for the Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction.