Book #89: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by B.B. Hiller

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

B.B. Hiller

 Released: January 1st, 1990

My 32nd book for 2025 was B.B. Hiller's “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”.  

Whew, that was a lot of Clue haha.  After reading 18 books of the same material, you tend to crave something different.  What better thing to read than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle novelizations of the original 1990's trilogy of films?

I chose this one specifically because of the 35th anniversary of the film.  This was my favorite movie of all time growing up.  I wore through VHS tapes, DVDs, and a Blu Ray of this film.  I simply cannot get enough.  After reading it, I was fortunate enough to see the movie in the movie theater for the first time.  That was a dream come true.

I found an online site that allows you to read Out-Of-Print (OOP) material.  This is where I found the book to read it.

The novel is pretty cool.  It follows the story almost exactly as it does in the film.  The only subtle differences are that it features some of the deleted scenes from the movie written in for further fleshing out the story.

The story itself is pretty great.  4 teenage turtles and a fatherly rat live in the sewers of New York City.  They were exposed to a radioactive ooze that caused them to mutate into fully grown human form.  The rat, named Splinter, was a pet of his master Yoshi prior to his death at the hands of a rival Oroku Saki.  Splinter finds the turtles once day, and raises them in the art of ninjitsu.  Once trained, the turtles protect the streets of NYC with vigilante justice.  A local reporter, April O'Neil is hot on the trail of uncovering a secret band of ninja thieves known as "The Foot".  Saki, now known as a hidden ninja master "Shredder", runs an underground crime business with troubled youth in the New York area.  After saving April from an attack intended to silence her, the turtles home is discovered in the sewer, and Splinter is abducted.  The Foot then turn their sights on April, and burn down her apartment building and thrift business.  After regrouping and healing in the rural farm areas of New York, the turtles return to the city to take down Shredder and the Foot Clan.  A near-fatal final battle between Shredder and the Turtles occurs on a rooftop.

The story also carries elements of family.  Splinter attempts to calm Raphael's rage.  Charles Pennington, and his son Danny share growing pains.  April has a sentimental love of her father's passion for "junk", keeping her failing business going.  Shredder plays with the minds of the troubled youth, expressing that since the outside world has rejected them, they belong to his family now, and he will be their surrogate father.  It's all summed up in a phrase Splinter utters to a disillusioned Danny, "All fathers, care for their sons."

Here is what I learned:

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• Book is dedicated to Andy Hiller and his cousin Jonathan Stilwell.

• Book acknowledged “A Tale of Two Cities” by declaring “It was the worst of times”.

• April O’Neill works for Channel 3 News.

• April drives a Volkswagen Van.

• Leonardo wears a blue mask and carries Katana.  He is the leader of the group.

• Michaelangelo wears an orange mask and carries Nunchukus.  He is easygoing and wisecracking.

• Donatello wears a purple mask and carries a Bo Staff.  He is quiet and thoughtful with mechanical ability.

• Raphael wears a red mask and carries a pair of Sai.  He is emotion and aggresssive.

• Splinter is about four feet tall.

• The Turtles and Splinter live in an abandoned sewer maintenance room.

• The sewer den has a telephone, television, electricity, and even heat.

• Splinter is missing half his right ear.

• June reports crime for the city of New York.

• “Wise man say: Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza.”

• Casey Jones is a former athlete who lives in New York City.  He is frustrated with the crime in the city.

• Raphael doesn’t like the movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

• In the movie, Raphael doesn’t like the movie Critters.

• “Possess the right thinking.  Only then can one receive the gifts of strength, knowledge, and peace.”

• April’s boss is Charles Pennington.

• The Chief of Police is Chief Sterns.

• Danny Pennington is Charles teenage son.

• Charles has to drive Danny to school daily just to make sure he goes.

• When Danny wants to ignore Charles, he puts his headphones on.

• Donatello likes to watch Wheel of Fortune

• The Foot is an ancient ninja clan originating in Japan.  Their mission is to destroy orderly society with criminal acts.

• In the book, April mentions being late on her car payments, where in the movie, it’s her Sony payments.  This is a reference to Sony being a Japanese company.

• Splinter was once the pet rat of his owner Hamato Yoshi.

• The Turtle’s lives were changed one day when a blind man was crossing the street.  A truck carrying chemicals swerved to avoid hitting him, and a canister fell out.  It hit a glass jar held by a young boy on the sideway.  It shattered the jar and began the mutation process of the Turtles.

• The Turtle’s names came from a copy of an old Renaissance book Splinter found in a storm drain.

• April assumed turtles only ate lettuce.

• Michaelangelo can do impersonations of Rocky Balboa and James Cagney.

• Danny was busted shoplifting an electronics store.

• Danny reads Sports Illustrated.

• Danny has an interest in college basketball.

• April is sensitive about her unsightly bathtub ring.

• April drinks caffeinated coffee.

• Danny was busted for stealing a car stereo.

• Shredder has an abandon warehouse in the Brooklyn district of New York City.

• Tatsu is his second-in-command.

• Tatsu is big, bald-headed, and fierce.

• Shredder’s new recruits enjoy video games, shooting pool, smoking cigarettes, and using foul language.

• The foot clan is represented by a black dogi with a dragon emblem on it.

• “Our family grows.  And soon the city will be our playground to use as we please.  Rewarding ourselves and punishing our enemies.”

• Danny reveals the location of the Turtles to Shredder.

• The Turtles enjoy quiz shows, Gilligan’s Island reruns, and soap operas.

• April thinks the Foot sounds like a funky club for podiatrists.

• Raphael doesn’t like to be teased and it even makes him angry sometimes.

• Casey Jones keeps a beach chair on his rooftop.

• Casey Jones drinks soda.

• The Turtles enjoy The Flintstones.

• April manages her father’s antique shop part-time in the basement of her apartment building.

• April’s dad loved junk.

• Michaelangelo’s first impression of Casey Jones is “Wayne Gretzky on steroids.”

• The junk show has a secret entrance that April’s grandfather had installed during the Prohibition Era.

• Tatsu possesses a lethal roundhouse kick.

• April’s family owned a farm in upstate New York.

• Casey is a good mechanic.

• From the farm, the nearest neighbor is four miles away.

• April starts her childhood diary back up at the farm.

• April is an artist, and draws portraits of the Turtles.

• Donatello enjoys S’mores.

• Leo can fight off multiple attackers blindfolded.

• Casey never falls in with people who own condos.

• In the book, Hamato Yoshi’s greatest rival was Oroku Nagi.

• Yoshi and Nagi were in love with the same woman, Tang Shen.

• When Shen resisted Nagi’s advances, he beat her.

• Yoshi saved her life but killed Nagi in the process.

• If a member of the Foot kills another member, they must take their own life.

• Yoshi felt he did no wrong, and escaped with Shen to New York.

• Nagi had a brother, Oroku Saki, who vowed revenge.

• “I’ll never call golf a dull game again.”

• Danny stole $23 from April.

• May Williams at Channel Five has her own office.

• “Cowabunga”.

• April and Danny attempted to sell the idea of Ninja Turtles to Mar-Cee Comics.

• Mar-Cee Comics created characters such as Amazing Aardvarks, Mighty Marsupial, and Nuclear Nightwing.

• Mr. Cushing is the publisher.

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Overall, this will always have a recommendation from me as it novelizes my favorite childhood movie.  Most of the classic moments are included, and it even branches out to a few new things we don't see in the final film.  Persona Bias: Highly recommended.

Highly Recommended.

On to Book #90: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze by B.B. Hiller.