From Australia comes one wild comedy. Writing a combination of loony science fiction, absurd mystery and normal teen angst, Chatterton has a ball trying to make his story as outrageous as possible, and young readers who crave literary insanity will love reading it. Theophilus Brain—“The Brain”—is a new student in hero Sheldon’s homeroom class. Modeling himself after Sherlock Holmes, The Brain claims to have become superintelligent by falling into his parents’ “genius machine.” Sheldon, now enjoying sidekick status, doesn’t believe him, but he can’t deny that oddities suddenly abound in his little town. The obnoxious local surfing champ appears to have been murdered and is missing his leg. The animals have taken on different personae: Kangaroos become burglars; timid koalas kill. Perhaps the most endearing character is Mavis, an enormous crocodile who thinks she’s a dog. Several deaths in the story war against the comedy but the laughs win. Readers shouldn’t expect anything remotely realistic and instead surrender themselves to the industrial-strength zaniness. (Adventure. 10-14)
