The Book You're Not Supposed to Have

July 1, 2016
Who could ban the world's greatest detective from detecting? In a word: mom. After the fiasco that was his last case (and Timmy Failure may not admit it, but which of his cases wasn't a fiasco?), his mother banned him from running his detective business...at least until the end of the school year. Thanks to a teacher's strike, the school year gets extended, but Timmy has too many important cases (not really) to wait. He sets up shop in the garden-shed section of the local Home Despot, and while attempting to survive piano lessons, orthodontist visits, his mother's wedding plans, and possibly homicidal cousins, he secretly continues to detect (even though his polar-bear assistant is too distracted by the $1 hot dogs sold nearby to do any assisting). When best friend Rollo Tookus goes missing, Timmy is on the case, hiring tangerine-scented Molly Moskins to help out. Will he find Rollo? Will Mom marry Doorman Dave? Will Timmy realize his detection skills rival those of the nearest rosebush? Cartoonist Pastis continues his heavily illustrated bestselling series with a fifth mystery that basically doesn't exist. Several chapter titles will be funny only to adults reading along, but the ample cartoons and clueless timfoolery will entertain all and sundry. Wittier than the Wimpy Kid and with a movie in the offing, the series can only gain fans. (Graphic/mystery hybrid. 7-12)

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