Blimpo: The Third Circle of Heck
The third in Basye’s Circles of Heck series follows young Milton Fauster (get it?) as he undertakes rescue missions for his rotund friend Virgil—confined to Blimpo, where dead overweight teens go to have their self-esteem further eroded—and his big sister Marlo, who has been given a memory wipe and a job as Satan’s receptionist down in “h-e-double-hockey-sticks.” As before, plot plays second fiddle to a relentlessly inventive barrage of puns, gross humor, and literary, movie, and cultural references. Not a stand-alone episode, despite many references to previous events. Grades 4-7. --John Peters