FUNDORADO ISLAND

Wisely writing under an assumed name, D.W. Gibson defines the difference between entertainment and self indulgence with this tedious, disconnected tale, told by a pirate captain abandoned by his crew and left to drift aboard a ship filled with looted jellybeans. Being slower on the uptake than anyone else turns out to be Redbeard’s only consistent trait, as he starts out murderous and choleric, closes as a jolly sort, who frets over the accidental death of a pet rat, and in between, is tossed up on Fundorado. This is a floating island paradise protected by something called “sparkletricity” and inhabited by numerous unique but poorly described creatures, including Fernobarb, a raging devil with an appetite for newcomers. Redbeard begins in pirate talk punctuated with set-off anecdotes dubbed “Side Order Stories,” but abandons both in mid-voyage for a more straightforward narrative that ambles along at the same pace whether he’s describing storm or calm, natural wonders or the violent climactic battle. Young readers will consign it to the bottom of Davy Jones’s Locker. Frequent illustrations, not seen. (Fantasy. 11-13)