cranky
THE FOURTH STALL (Walden Pond Press 2011) by Chris Rylander was a perfect book for a 4 hour delayed flight from Houston to San Francisco (well, it was one of two books read during the flight and the delay time as well). Mac has connections. From his office in an abandoned bathroom at the back of the school building in the fourth stall, Mac can help you with problems of all sorts. Need help connecting with a certain female? Mac can help. Need tickets to an "R" rated movie even though you are not 16? No sweat. However, when a young kid comes to Mac for some help dealing with a bully and a bookie, Mac is in for some considerable trouble. One problem is that the alleged bookie is a character no one has ever seen; he is the stuff of rumors and tall tales. According to Fred, though, this guy is more than real. There's another fly in the ointment: someone inside Mac's organization is a leak. It seems as though all of his plans go awry until it begins to appear as if Mac will have to give up his office and go back to just being plain old Mac. Rylander has a great sense of comic timing and, apparently, a terrific sense of humor. More importantly, he knows about "guys." Here is a book for those reluctant AND avid readers in intermediate and middle school. The cover homage might not be familiar to all readers, but for me it was icing on the cake. <222>
