THE BOY WITH THE LAMPSHADE ON HIS HEAD

Stanley Krakow, a timid, pathologically shy fifth-grade worry wart who only shines in his overactive imagination, has to deal with the real world when he learns that Theresa, his new, seemingly high-spirited classmate and neighbor, is regularly beaten by her mother. In this quest he’s aided by his Uncle Willie (meant to be seen as a possible older version of Stanley) currently incarcerated in a mental hospital because he cast off his similarly trembling tongue-tied personality and has taken on the identity of Alan Ladd, a tough-guy movie star from the ’40s and ’50s. Despite the fact that this involves the horrific topic of child abuse, the real subject is the development of personal strength and courage; the characters are comically outsized, and much of the story is amusing. Some of the scenes go on too long, creating intermittent slow spots in the narrative, but overall Wetter is a welcome new voice whose tale is serious fun. (Fiction. 10-13)