THE GREAT MOSQUITO, BULL, AND COFFIN CAPER
by Nancy Lamb & illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz
When Alexander's ``Official Best Buddy Forever'' Jimmy announces sadly that his family is moving to California, the two decide to share three traumatic experiences so that they'll never forget one another. Lamb develops her no-frills plot and characters with a light touch; the three stunts will, in turn, have readers squirming (Jimmy and Zander watch mosquitoes feed on them), shivering (they provoke a ``Brahmin'' bull into charging) and laughing aloud (they sneak into a mortuary and sleep in coffins)—but not, one hopes, trying to imitate them. Simple comedy for middle readers. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 9-11)