Review by Booklist Review
In the seemingly inexhaustible Pinkwater's latest short novel, Molly, a character from Pinkwater's Adventures of a Dwergish Girl (2020) who belongs to a secretive people (which "rhymes," the author hints, "with schmeprekon"), joins reluctant young narrator Mick and a motley group of fellow travelers in a tricked-out 1958 Buick convertible, complete with built-in toaster, to deliver a ghostly cetacean to the "whaley pearly gates," also known as Whalhalla, Mount Whalympus, or Flukes of Glory. Naturally, there are many surreal encounters along the way, but bombinating (look it up) as they "stooge along," guided by a surprisingly knowledgeable dog, the intrepid road trippers complete their mission, only to be rewarded by being all-too-briefly drawn in to the mystical, whirling dance of the massed whale spirits. Renier's intermittent spot art provides an added visual element, and the climactic experience is likely to affect readers as deeply as it does Mick and his compatriots, making an unexpectedly lovely capper for this typically, and distinctively, daffy journey.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Mick returns home from summer camp to find "a little old man" named Guru Lumpu Smythe-Finkel occupying his bedroom in Pinkwater's (Adventures of a Dwergish Girl) jovial novel. Though Mick's older brother Maurice brought Lumpu and his dog Lhasa home from his trip to the Himalayas, the guru takes Mick on as his apprentice. During their daily hikes, Lumpu--who insists that destiny led him to Poughkeepsie, N.Y.--teaches Mick to appreciate the innate oddness of his hometown. The pair are joined by Vern, Mick's environmental activist friend from summer camp, and Molly, a new arrival from the Catskill Mountains who describes herself as "crazy... I'm not myself." After encountering a ghost whale named Luna, the group embarks on a quest to guide the cetacean to her final resting place at the "whaley pearly gates." Though outmoded language regarding mental health goes unexamined, this caper offers comical adventure, and Renier's b&w illustrations exude classic comic strip aesthetics, admirably complementing Pinkwater's straightforwardly told absurdist humor. Most characters cue as white; Mick's family reads as Jewish. Ages 10--13. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (May)
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