cover image The Curious Adventures of Jimmy McGee

The Curious Adventures of Jimmy McGee

Eleanor Estes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P, $14.95 (160pp) ISBN 978-0-15-221075-5

The Newbery Medalist (Ginger Pye tells a story of high-flown, lighthearted imagination, harmoniously illustrated by O'Brien. Last seen in The Witch Family, Amy and her best friend Clarissa are now on vacation at the seashore. In a book by Amy, Jimmy McGee finds himself described as ""a little fellow, a plumber . . . a HERO.'' Jimmy is surprised and anxious to prove his heroism but more interested in catching a bit of lightning and thunder to keep in his magic bolt box. Happy when he gets the two, the little plumber is even more elated because he rescues Amy's doll Lydiaprized because she doesn't do anythingfrom a monster wave. But to Jimmy's consternation, Lydia gets the ``zoomie-zoomies'' from the lightning and thunder bolts. Now the hero has to figure out how to stop the doll's fun-raising before he returns her to Amy. This is a sweet fairy tale, one of Estes's most bewitching creations. Ages 8-12. (April)