Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case

Grade 3-5. The star of this spy story has been featured in Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1994) and Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur (1995, both Random). Here, the eight year old deals with an unpleasant situation at his exclusive private school. When headmaster Mr. Goodbody retires and is replaced by Mr. I. M. Greedyguts, things look bad. When Mrs. Bountiful, the school cook, is replaced by Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse's catering service, things become decidedly worse. Jacob takes action. With the help of a wonderfully wacky new neighbor and master spy, his supportive family, some spy tricks, and many unusual disguises, the boy defeats the villains and emerges triumphant. Richler's story brings to mind Roald Dahl and Daniel Pinkwater, as characters are drawn with bold and silly strokes, word play abounds, and kids are the heroes. Jacob Two-Two's fans will enjoy spending more time in the boy's world. Humorous black-and-white cartoons help to capture the intrigue. With its simple but satisfying plot and tongue-in-cheek humor, this pleasant read-alone or read-aloud will attract youngsters not quite ready for Dahl but past David Adler's "Cam Jansen" books (Viking).?Jody McCoy, Lakehill Preparatory School, Dallas, TX
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4^-5. Headmaster Goodbody's tearful retirement signals dismaying changes at Privilege House, Jacob Two-Two's private school. In waddles corpulent I. M. Greedyguts, and soon the school lunches are "tasteless, horrible, or plain disgusting, depending on the day of the week," all supplied from garbage cans by master miser Leo Louse. Fortunately, Jacob's new friend, X. Barnaby Dinglebat, Master Spy, quickly finds evidence that Greedyguts and Louse are on the take, and with the help of Jacob and his classmates, as well as some outrageous but effective disguises, he catches them in the act. Richler takes aim at familiar targets, but the satire never has a mean edge, and the characters are so broadly drawn that it will be hard for readers, including adults, to keep straight faces. Michael Chesworth's monochrome ink-and-wash drawings add appropriately comic touches, and to his nonstop antic plot, the author adds instructions for a clever card trick and a challenging, chapter-long secret message from Dinglebat, printed in reverse. Like its predecessors, most recently (if you call 1987 recent) Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur, this is a stitch to read silently but even funnier to read aloud. John Peters

Third in a series (Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur, o.p., and Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, 1994) about an eight-year-old nicknamed ``Two-Two'' because, as the youngest of five children, he must say everything twice before anyone pays any attention to him. In this adventure Jacob enlists the aid of his new neighbor, X. Barnaby Dinglebat, Master Spy, to foil the gluttonous headmaster I.M. Greedyguts, who has turned over his school's catering contract to the notorious miser Perfectly Loathsome Leo Louse in order to profit from kickbacks. Richler mines the same child-as-underdog- persecuted-by-revolting-and-hypocritical-adults vein that Roald Dahl so richly exploited, without Dahl's felicity of language and gift for fantasy. Instead, grossness and gimmicks (a chapter printed in mirror-writing, a card trick explained in an afterword) will sustain interest. Jacob's role in the plot is confined largely to enduring indignities and following orders, for Mr. Dinglebat, Jacob's father, and a trio of craven cops nail the bad guys. (b&w illustrations, not seen, glossary) (Fiction. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.