Salvatore Wallingford McNally, nicknamed Scab, uses his scientific studies for an even more practical purpose than annoying his twin sister: getting out of his dreaded swimming lessons. He’d rather spend his early-morning hours relaxing with his fishing buddies than diving in the deep end, but his outlandish pranks threaten to derail his summer plans. When his elusive catch slips away, Scab concocts a plan to hook the dinosaur believed to be hiding in the lake. His fast-paced first-person narration features punchy one-liners and revels in revolting gags to propel the unlikely events, though nuanced characterization reveals some complexity as Scab struggles for his peers’ acceptance. His flippant, comic voice resonates in his frequent journal lists. He outlines his quirkiest fears, including a phobia of the letter G. “I can’t write it in cursive. My teacher Miss Sweetandsour says my G’s are saggy. So are her ears.” Paillot’s angular drawings suit the characters’s zany antics. The Secrets of a Lab Rat series serves up another chuckle-inducing helping with this second installment. (Fiction. 8-11)
