Return to Foreverware

The ""special introductory price"" on the cover of this first book in the Eerie, Ind., series (inspired by the Fox television program) isn't apt to provide sufficient incentive for kids to pay full fare ($3.99) for each of the next two return trips. There's so little subtlety here that readers may tire of Ford's plays on words (and on characters' names), silly dialogue and obvious plot moves. Looking for after-school employment, narrator Marshall Teller and his best friend, Simon, answer an ad in the paper that reads ""Boy Wanted for Odd Job."" They're hired by Martha and James Stewart, who, as a result of sleeping in sealed plastic containers guaranteed to keep things ""fresh forever,"" haven't aged a whit in 20 years or moved beyond a 1970s sensibility. After Martha puts the boys to work cleaning out the attic (and whips them up delicacies--including olive loaf sandwiches and pigs-in-blankets--that would make her namesake blanch), the pair starts to piece together, laboriously, the story of the Stewarts' past, which involves a deceased son (named Rodney, natch) whom they're hoping to replace...and keep eternally fresh. Readers are meant to fear for the boys' safety, but may find Ford's tale more ludicrous than eerie. There's too little bang for a buck here. Also due this month are Bureau of Lost (#2) and The Eerie Triangle (#3). Ages 8-12. (Oct.)