ENCYCLOPEDIA BROWN AND THE CASE OF THE SECRET UFOS

Cranking out the cases for his brainy, perpetually ten-year-old sleuth since 1963, Sobol dishes up ten more—from stolen cookies and rare stamps to faked photos (see title) and a bogus 18th-century diary. Though the plots are as formulaic as they come, that's partly the point, and the easy language and frequent pen-and-ink illustrations provide an enduring draw for fledgling readers; the entertainment value in winkling out the telling clue without having to turn to the solutions in the back is evergreen. There’s usually an artful joke or two to catch, too (“This time it was Flash Borden who came running up. Flash was in fifth grade, like Encyclopedia. His real name was Gordon. He had left Gordon Borden behind in kindergarten. Flash, he had decided, suited him better”—ba-da-boom!), plus some clever wordplay. Interchangeable the volumes may be, but young Brown remains a model for budding detectives everywhere. How pleasing to have a new clutch of mysteries for the rising generation thereof. (Crime fiction. 8-10)