Abundantly illustrated fun for readers who are tired of the Wimpy Kid.
Detective Timmy Failure is on the case…probably not a good thing for anyone involved.
Timmy (formerly of Total Failure Inc., but he had to fire his partner, Total the polar bear) has a new case: someone stole the funds from YIP YAP, a charity created to raise money to buy books for the bookless tot Yergi Plimkin. Unfortunately, Timmy’s mother is forcing him to use his precious spring break to help her boyfriend, Doorman Dave, move to Chicago. The investigation goes on the road, with the help of Timmy’s best friend, Rollo Tookus, via telephone. Who will Timmy find as a scapegoat—er, discover to be the perpetrator? This case may answer these crucial questions: can Molly Moskins, criminal mastermind, be rehabilitated? Will Total the polar bear ever get enough bonbons? And what did Timmy actually hear his mother and Doorman Dave talking about that could change everything? Cartoonist Pastis brings his intelligent yet clueless, arrogantly overconfident detective back for a fourth nonsensical (and nonexistent) case. Some of the humor (such as the plays on song titles, quotes, and lyrics that name most chapters—“Rainy Days and Mothers Always Get Me Down,” for instance) will fly over the heads of all in the target audience. Nevertheless, for fans of the bestselling series, this one’s more of the same.
Abundantly illustrated fun for readers who are tired of the Wimpy Kid. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8092-3
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
It’s rollicking fun and a welcome new series, a great boys’ counterpart to such stellar girls’ series as Ivy + Bean.
Combine the curiosity of three boys, the discovery of a map of an island and the legend of Captain Kidd’s buried treasure and what do you get? A funny gem of a middle-grade mystery, the first of a series.
Fish Finelli (his real name is Norman, but the first word he said was “Fish”) and his pals T.J., who’s constantly eating all kinds of candy, and Roger, who’s always equipped with a pun, set out to find the rumored Captain Kidd’s long-lost loot. Obstacles galore—piles of goose poop, a suspicious librarian and a bet with a bully, among others—guarantee comic scenes. The dialogue is contemporary, and the chapter headings add clever flair: “The Librarian’s Got the Booty?!” Small sidebars scattered throughout provide context and background facts, informing readers just who was Nikola Tesla (the namesake of Fish’s goldfish) and the history of old tech like walkie-talkies and new(ish) tech like microwave ovens. The boys enjoy a remarkable degree of freedom, tempered with prominent but natural references to PFDs and the like, giving readers some jolly, vicarious thrills.
It’s rollicking fun and a welcome new series, a great boys’ counterpart to such stellar girls’ series as Ivy + Bean. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: April 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4521-0820-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
As they learn to take responsibility for their mini-fiascoes, Melonhead and Sam deliver sniggers galore in this sweet and...
Melonhead and his buddy Sam deliver their third goofball romp when they go undercover to catch one of the FBI’s Most Wanted.
Having earned “Junior Special Agent” status from their numerous visits to FBI headquarters, Melonhead and Sam decide that a woman they meet on the bus is The Chameleon, master of disguise and wanted by the FBI. They get so caught up in their self-imposed spy mission that, despite their perpetual good intentions, things run amok. In particular, they bungle a pastry delivery, to the delight of the squirrels, when they hide in a tree outside the suspect’s home. As in the first two books of this series, the story is liberal with such tomfoolery as nose picking, butt walking and a dog-pee mishap. The boys have a witty repartee and are fond of rhyming: “E-Z P-Z, rice and cheezie” or “Unbend, my friend.” As the pair works at fixing their delivery bungle while still continuing to track and report on The Chameleon, they learn that fear and bravery go hand in hand and that sometimes tomato-soup blunders turn out to be a good thing. Combined with appearances from neighborhood favorites met in earlier volumes and Johnson’s snappy sketches, Melonhead’s pure, kid-centric, fun-loving perspective is hard to resist.
As they learn to take responsibility for their mini-fiascoes, Melonhead and Sam deliver sniggers galore in this sweet and funky confection. (Mystery. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-385-73659-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
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