December 1, 2002
Gr 5-7-A lad with a penchant for getting lost reunites with a tiny but loudmouthed alien for a third misadventure, following The Nose from Jupiter (1998) and A Nose for Adventure (2001, both Tundra). Abandoned in the remote backwoods by his mother's jerk boyfriend, Alan Dingwall is, more or less, pleased when Norbert, his diminutive buddy from Jupiter, again takes up residence in his nose to help bail him out. Rescued by Amazonian teenaged outdoorswoman Zinta Zeeler after encounters with bees, bears, and other hazards, Alan returns the favor by winning a climactic poker game, thus ensuring victory for Zinta's team in her summer camp's big games day. The humor, along with the general premise, is starting to wear thin, but Norbert's wisecracks may win some laughs from graduates of similar alien encounters, such as Stephanie Spinner and Terry Bisson's Expiration Date: Never (Delacorte, 2001).-John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2003
Gr. 4-7. Alan's mother pressures him and her live-in boyfriend, Christopher, to go on a canoe trip together, but her hope that they will bond is doomed from the beginning. First, Alan's friend Victor wrangles an invitation to join the reluctant campers. Next, the boys become separated from Christopher in the wild, where they soon tangle with two bears, a snake, an artist, and an Amazon of a camper (not to mention the quicksand). Fortunately, the boys have hidden resources, such as luck, pluck, and Norbert, the tiny, smart-alecky alien who arrives from Jupiter to take up residence in Alan's nose. Norbert, who also appeared in the two earlier books, " Nose from Jupiter" (1998) and " Nose for Adventure" (2001) magically returns to help his friend. With entertaining characters, witty dialogue, and wry observations, this fast-paced Canadian novel supports the notion, seldom acknowledged in children's books, that Mother doesn't " always" know best.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2003
Mom's new boyfriend invites Alan Dingwall to go camping. On the way to the campgrounds, Alan and his friend Victor get lost and must spend the night in the woods. After their rescue, the boys participate in a sports competition at a nearby summer camp. A silly fantasy element (a wisecracking alien from Jupiter lives in Alan's nose) is an unnecessary addition to this otherwise amusing fish-out-of-water story.
(Copyright 2003 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)