Racing against the clock, shy middle-school student Lily and her best friends, Katie and Jasper, must foil the plot of her father's conniving boss to conquer the world using an army of whales. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Starred Review. An intrepid trio must defeat an insidious plan to use whales (equipped with metal stilts and laser-beam eyes) in a takeover of the state capital and then the world! in this highly wacky novel. Anderson (The Serpent Came to Gloucester, reviewed above) sets a comic tone from the start: "On Career Day Lily visited her dad's work and discovered he worked for a mad scientist who wanted to rule the earth through destruction and desolation." Lily's father, like all the adults in the novel, is blissfully unconcerned about the ludicrous events going on around him (e.g., his boss, Larry, wears a grain sack over his head and extends a blue, rubbery hand when he meets Lily). Her father dismisses the heroine's fears when Larry pronounces that he plans to literally "take over the world" ("Honey, sometimes adults use irony. They don't really mean what they say"). Introspective, shy Lily then turns to her two more brazen friends, each the subject of a successful children's book series (the book's humor is very self-referential for instance, awkward Harcourt writers follow them around asking for details of their exploits). Armed with an array of adjectives, non-sequiturs, bizarre asides, irrelevant footnotes and running gags, Anderson sends up decades of children's book series, and creates a hysterical tale of his own. Cyrus's meticulously rendered black-and-white illustrations riff on comic books and '50s-era advertisements, escalating the humor factor in this highly accessible volume. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 4-6 A story written with the author's tongue shoved firmly into his cheek. Lily Gefelty's father works for a mad scientist who wears a sack over his head. When she overhears him say that he wants to take over the world, her oblivious father assures her, "Honey, sometimes adults use irony. They don't really mean what they say." Nonetheless, the 12-year-old calls on her two best friends, Katie Mulligan, the star of the "Horror Hollow" novels (think "Goosebumps"), and Jasper Dash, also known as the Boy Technonaut (think "Tom Swift"), to investigate. The trio soon learns that Larry does indeed plan to conquer the world using mind-controlled whales on stilts with laser-beam eyes. No adult will believe them, so it's up to the kids to save the Earth. Readers who have graduated from Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) or who know their Lemony Snickets (HarperCollins), should love this first title in a new series. It's full of witty pokes at other series novels and Jasper's nutty inventions. Walter Minkel, New York Public Library Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 5-7. Putting a Stratemeyer Syndicate spin on the flakiest of pulp conventions, the always-surprising Anderson pits shy but clever Lily Gefelty and her two pals--Katie Mulligan, star of her own horror fantasy series, and relentlessly dweebish boy techonaut Jasper Dash, an adventure series hero himself--in a battle to save the world from an army of mind-controlled, laser-wielding whales on tall stilts. Pausing for authorial asides, random digressions, book ads, and the occasional product plug ( Say kids: Want to feel peachy-keen? / Drink a Quart of Gargletine! ), Anderson takes his intrepid trio through fire and water, chases, attacks, numerous silly cliff hangers, and lines of dialogue such as, 'Dash it all chums, this sounds a mighty pickle.' Following a wildly destructive climax, there's the requisite happy ending--which includes the launch of a new series, featuring Lily Gefelty and her pet rat Nimrod. Goosebumps fans and readers who get Lemony Snicket's brand of humor will be rolling in the aisles. JohnPeters. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.