Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission

December 18, 2006
Infused with the same high energy found in Mr. Chickee's Funny Money
, this second installment of the Flint Future Detectives series offers even zanier adventures with mixed results. Steven Carter and Russell Woods allow a new member into their sleuthing clan: Richelle Cyrus-Herndon, "the smartest kid at Clark Elementary," whose intelligence is as irritating (at least to Steven) as it is useful. The trio's first mission is to find the whereabouts of Rodney Rodent, Russell's tiny lost dog, who Russell believes disappeared inside a "horrible, frightening" mural advertising Vernor's ginger ale. Following the canine's path, the children soon find themselves entering an alternate universe where Steven's dear friend, Mr. Chickee, is waiting to greet them. According to Mr. Chickee, the magical place he calls "Ourside"—which holds as many surprises as Alice's Wonderland—is in danger of dying, and it's up to the Flint Future Detectives to prevent such a disaster. The novel's fast-paced action, hip dialogue, wacky characters and tangential commentaries (including some gentle jabs at J.K. Rowling) add some spice, but occasionally readers may find themselves yearning for fewer gimmicks and more connections between seemingly random events. Ages 9-12.

February 1, 2007
Gr 3-6-This second book about the Flint Future Detectives is part mystery, part tall tale, part fantasy, and all fast-paced, zany comedy. When Russell's dog, Rodney Rodent, follows a winking gnome through a mural near the Halo Burger, Russell and his friends, Richelle and Steven, follow. They find themselves in Ourside on a porch with Mr. Chickee, who had given Steven a quadrillion-dollar bill in "Mr. Chickee's Funny Money" (Random, 2005). The kids have been summoned to this alternative universe to save Ourside by understanding the prophecies of the Chronicles of Zornea-Hu, the first Old Soul. They set out to find Rodney Rodent, hiring a surly guide who leads them to H.A.L.F. Land, where the unfinished, unused characters of fiction live. Curtis's spoofing with B. T. Bowling and the Hairy Plodder books, with The Great Morose Fire-Spewing Clabbernabber, is one of the novel's hilarious highlights. The surly guide steals Great-great grampa Carter's wildly funny insulting dictionary, setting the stage for the third book. Loaded with exclamation points and full of tongue-in-cheek asides, this book will be welcomed by those who enjoyed the young detectives' first adventure. Wacky characters, improbable happenings, weird challenges, and a chaotic plot will all conspire to have readers saying, as Russell does, "GULP!""Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME"

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