Missing Monkey!

November 11, 2013
Billy’s parents live up to their last name of Crook, and Billy and his twin sister, Jillian, are expected to follow in their footsteps. The problem is that both kids feel drawn to doing good deeds. “Should I stop my greedy crook ways and become a good person like this old grandma standing next to me?” Billy wonders. In this first book in the Good Crooks series from Amato (Guitar Notes), the twins try to help out at the local zoo, only to have their parents steal a monkey to train as a thief. Jillian’s genius for problem-solving and gadget-making and Billy’s more slapdash tendencies combine with comical results. With his jokes, burping skills, and endless craving for bacon, Billy is an entertaining narrator, and the book’s many gags and sweetly absurd resolutions to the outlandish problems that arise will have beginning readers eager for more chaotic misadventures from these well-meaning Crooks. Dog Gone! is available simultaneously. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 7–9. Author’s agent: Nancy Gallt Literary Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

March 1, 2014

Gr 2-4-Billy and Jillian Crook want to be good Crooks instead of following in their dishonest parents' footsteps. They are being trained in the family business, so the twins must do their good deeds in secret. In the first book, their parents steal a monkey to train to pick pockets, much to the siblings' disapproval. In Dog Gone!, Billy and Jillian raise money for a dog shelter. However, their attempt to do something worthy goes wrong when their mom and dad plot to steal the TV star Poochie Smoochie. Using disguises, Jillian's problem-solving skills, and Billy's humor, the kids work together to return the stolen animals. Bizarre and comedic circumstances keep readers wondering what will happen next, and frequent black-and-white art adds to the fun. This humorous series will be a hit with early-chapter-book readers.-Sarah Polace, Cuyahoga Public Library System, OH

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2014
A new chapter-book series about do-gooder thieves kicks off with a monkeynapping. While most parents want their children to be law-abiding citizens, bacon-loving Billy Crook and his inventor twin sister, Jillian, are home-schooled by their professional thief parents to keep their covers safe and practice the skills of the "trade." Billy's easygoing, quick-paced narration describes the blunders he and Jillian face when they decide to secretly do good deeds. In their first "caper," the twins go in disguise to a clean-up day at the zoo. When their parents follow them and steal a monkey in the process, Billy and Jillian attempt a series of unsuccessful yet humorous schemes to return the monkey without their parents' knowledge. In the second, simultaneously publishing story, Dog Gone! (978-1-60684-397-0; 978-1-60684-510-3 paper), the pair faces a similar scenario when they decide to raise money for an animal shelter by earning the money through a bake sale. Once again, their parents steal an animal, this time Poochie Smoochie, the poodle star of a popular TV show. A concluding twist in the twins' true identities saves the second volume from being just a rehash of the first and sets the scene for more titles. Scrappy song lyrics, energetic illustrations and plenty of potty humor keep the hilarity high for reluctant readers. (Fiction. 7-9)

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