The Attack of the Frozen Woodchucks

February 15, 2008
When Jimmys dad (an imaginative but unpublished childrens novelist) reports to his family and the N.Y.P.D. that he has seen a 20- to 30-foot woodchuck in Central Park, no one takes the sighting seriously. But when the writer mysteriously disappears, Jimmy, his techno-geek classmates, William and Janice, and his sister (a two-year-old inventor extraordinaire) spring into action. Traveling by homemade spaceship, they battle the aggressive woodchucks, foil a nefarious scheme to deforest whole planets, save Jimmys dad, and even restore Janices relationship with her distant father. Combining science fiction with adventure and comedy, this inventive novel is over the top in some respects, but consistently entertaining. Readers willing to suspend disbelief will enjoy the storys more fantastic episodes in space as well as a concluding scene back at school, when a surprising, satisfying reversal occurs on the kickball field.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)