Spoiled 13-year-old Thomas Arnold David—Tad—is like a large, contented cat curled up in the lap of luxury—until his parents deny him something he wants. Carelessly, he wishes to be “somebody else,” and poof, he wakes up in the body of carnival worker and sometime thief Bob Snarby. As Bob, Tad finds himself nabbed by the police and deposited at a home for troubled children that is, ironically, run by Tad’s father. While there, Tad learns some awful truths about his father’s business empire and vows never to return home even if he returns to his proper body. While the events that transpire in this winsome adventure are delightfully absurd, the transformation that Tad undergoes strikes a genuine note. It is the young person’s journey to self-definition writ large. Dramatically and irrevocably separated from his family, Tad sees his parents from another perspective and in a broader context, which enables him to begin to establish a moral compass for himself that is much different from his father’s. Sure to please, and to expand, Horowitz’s tween fan base. (Fantasy. 10-14)
