"WEIRDOS OF THE UNIVERSE, UNITE!"

by Pamela F. Service ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 1992

Anti-clique Mandy recruits cool Owen from California to form WEIRD (Weird Entities in Rightful Domination) to combat conventionality. Their first ""weird"" venture--to do a topnotch job on an English paper about mythical characters from various cultures--goes awry when the characters come to life and they and the kids are sent to turn back invaders from space. Baba Yaga's chicken house transports Coyote, Chinese Dragon Princess Lung Nu, Siegfried, and the Horned Huntsman to an alien spaceship where it's alien technology against earthly magic and mischief. Harassed by the Wild Hunt and frazzled by Lung Nu's weather havoc and Mandy's rock tape, the aliens call off their invasion on the grounds that earthlings are too weird to be believable--they have too many different creatures, languages, and technologies: ""What you say does not fit in. Therefore it is wrong."" Somewhat against expectation, this unusual potpourri of characters makes an entertaining story, at least at the level of preposterous slapstick. Mandy is believably rebellious against her giggling gaggle of schoolmates, while Owen has been through so many of his lawyer mother's fads (back to African roots, Tibetan mysticism) that he takes anything in stride. Siegfried is properly brainless and pompous, but he still has appeal--Lung Nu falls a little in love with him. As she should.

Pub Date: March 31, 1992

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1992

Categories: CHILDREN'S