Alien Brain Fryout: A Wild Willie Mystery - Hardcover

 BARBARA JOOSSE is the best-selling author of more than thirty books for children. She lives in a little stone house in Wisconsin. Visit her website at www.barbarajoosse.com.

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Grade 2-5-In this fourth book in the series, friends Willie, Lucy, and Kyle decide they need a headquarters for their detective agency. They settle into Kyle's attic, since the equipment and files of Loony Loraine, the amateur detective who lived in the house before she died, are stored there. Their longing for a case to solve is soon answered when Scarface, the parrot that also used to belong to Loony Loraine, begins to act strange. At the same time, Chuckie, the neighborhood bully, also changes his behavior. They decide that both the parrot and Chuckie have been abducted and brainwashed by aliens, and send the earrings that Chuckie bought Lucy off to "the authorities," the editors of Alert! magazine, to have them tested for computer chips. A trip to the vet and an answer from Alert! confirms that Chuckie and Scarface suffer from the same ailment, but it is not alien abduction; they're both in love. Truesdell's pen-and-ink illustrations are the perfect complement to this lighthearted mystery. The cartoon characters with their big eyes and comical investigative ways have surefire appeal and the story develops just enough to be exciting without being scary or threatening. Fans of David A. Adler's "Cam Jansen" books (Viking) will enjoy this fast-paced adventure and will want to look for the other Wild Willie mysteries.
Linda L. Plevak, Alamo Area Library System, San Antonio, TX
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