Face it, Szpirglas tells us, the world we live in is definitely gross—and we’re pretty yucky, too. Read on, and you’ll find yourself up to your oily, sweaty, bacteria-filled armpits in verifiable facts and figures about the mighty microbial wildlife that breeds and excretes in and on all living things. Cho’s colorful cartoon scientists, A and B, lead readers through an intimate examination of topics inappropriate for the dinner-table. Chapter titles like “Mad About Mucus,” “What a Gas!,” “Mind your Pees and Q’s,” and “V is for Vomit” will entice readers to delve into their favorite foul and fascinating facts; and while certainly less than clinical, broad comic-strip illustrations throughout provide lighthearted visual context and appeal for those who delight in the disgusting. Szpirglas, who describes himself as “Just a guy who happens to think weird animals and gross facts are cool,” lists 38 researchers and experts consulted in an impressive concluding page of “Amazingly Awesome Acknowledgments.” (Nonfiction. 8-11)
