Don't Pat the Wombat

Mark Ryder gives us the good, the bad, and the messy in this antic account of his friends' misadventures during a week of school-camp in the Australian Outback. Camp is everything the boys expect and more -- there are caves to explore, mud fights, bad showers, great food, hidden candy, wombats, and leeches. Then disaster strikes: Mr. Cromwell (a.k.a. Crom the Bomb, or simply The Bomb) arrives as a substitute chaperon. The boys are sure their summer is ruined. But in the end, it's what the boys do to The Bomb that sets off an explosion. . . .