The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies: And Other Warped and Creepy Tales
Grade 6–9—In this entertaining collection of three dozen short stories, Lubar creates characters who will quickly engage readers. The selections range between two and six pages in length. Some are humorous, such as the title story, which involves middle schoolers in a hot-pepper-eating contest, while others are moralistic horror tales, such as "The Ratty Old Bumbershoot," in which a boy is eaten by an umbrella that he "borrows" but has no intention of returning. Still others are science fiction, as in "Galactic Zap," in which a video game created by aliens is placed on Earth and anyone who gets good at it is eliminated to help ensure a quick takeover of the planet. Most readers will find something here to their liking.—Valerie Davis, Campbell County Public Library, Newport, KYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.