Prince of Underwhere

It's tough to be ZeKe.

He's got his hands full: There is his prissy, know-it-all twin sister; his mean cousin Caitlyn, who's house-sitting for his missing parents; and a bully making life tough at school (as though it wasn't hard enough already). And now, thanks to a stinky, scruffy, good-for-nothing talking cat, he's also got to cope with zombies, midget freedom fighters, devious spies, superstar rappers, and a whole weird world beneath our own where people wear their underwear on the outside of their clothes.

Publishers Weekly

The author of the Chet Gecko mysteries launches a new series, billed as half comic/half novel-Hugo Cabret, however, this is not, nor, for that matter, is it Captain Underpants. A trio of kids discovers Underwhere, which, as narrator Zeke feels compelled to specify, is "the place, not the tighty-whities. I already know about those." It seems that Zeke, his twin sister and best friend tumble into a "black hole" in a partially constructed house and land in an underground realm, where the zombie-like Undies (who wear their underwear on the outside) proclaim Zeke the "lost prince of Underwhere" and give him a 21-bun salute, then explain that he must "free the land from under the Underlord's cruel butt." The text cedes to a gray-scale graphic novel style whenever the kids descend to Underwhere; the pictures, surprisingly, skimp on humor and try for heavy-duty action. For readers who find wedgies, mooning and the like intrinsically funny, this book is good news; everyone else, stand warned. Ages 8-12. (Jan.)

Bruce (charming cheetah) Hale spends much of his time pouncing on pesky balls of yarn and raiding his neighbor's catnip garden. To relax, he perches himself in his living room window and basks in the rays of the sun in Santa Barbara, California.