Binky, License to Scratch

July 15, 2013
Disaster on Binky's space station comes in the shape of "SUITCASES!" Neither Binky nor his assistant space pet, Gordie the dog, saw this coming, and they discover that their commanding officer, Gracie, who lives in the next space station over, is also beset by suitcases. Their humans are about to set off into deep space unprotected! Binky and Gracie are loaded into portable space pods, so space dog Gordie must be their eyes and ears on the drive--er, flight to the "pet hotel," which turns out to be...the vet! Their humans depart, and the space pets are loaded into cells. The boredom is agonizing; they must escape and find their humans. By working together, they break out--only to find the diabolical professor Tuffy hiding out below the vet's office, conducting horrible experiments on aliens (bugs). Can Binky and his crew escape Tuffy? Or will the aliens (bugs) take over? And will their humans ever return for them? Binky may have a license to scratch, but even he can't know all! Binky's fifth and final adventure has all his trademarks: sly humor, a little slapstick, self-aggrandizing misunderstanding of human doings and, of course, space gas (poot). Spires caps her series with a fun and funny adventure in spaaace! Fans will be pleased (if sad to say goodbye), and new readers will beg for the indomitable space cat's earlier adventures. (Graphic fantasy. 7-11)

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