Review by Kirkus Book Review
The active imaginations of two African American brothers get them into a boatload of fun (and trouble) in this second series entry. Lincoln and Hudson Dupré have spent their summer playing in the community center's outdoor pool. After a rowdy chicken fight with their friends Tyler and Samarth, they terrorize each other and fellow swimmers with sunscreen. When the pool has to close for cleaning, Link, Hud, and pals cannonball their way into the indoor pool and the seniors' aqua-aerobics class. Their antics draw the attention of Coach Strickler, who's in charge of the Sharks competitive swim team. To Link, their regimented drills look like "some kind of punishment," but he also wonders if he has what it takes to swim as fast as they do. The boys end up at the beach with their parents, where their dad gives them a booklet entitled "Gumbo's Field Guide to Fishing the Gulf," which they enjoy browsing. Humorous excerpts from the guide are interspersed (after the foursome experience a terrible training session with the Sharks and Coach Strickler sends them packing, readers encounter this tip: "Don't swim with sharks when there's blood in the water. Just trust old Gumbo on this one. You'll live to swim another day"). The pitch-perfect humor and likable characters will pull readers in. Passages of prose alternate with lively comic-book sequences, showing the boys' fully fleshed-out dreamscapes and their reality. An entertaining look at siblings' interior lives and wild adventures.(Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
