Pig and the Shrink

Teenaged Tucker, also known as Shrink (because of his small stature), narrates this humorous first novel centering around his efforts to make Angelo Pighetti (aka Pig) the subject of his science fair project on ""nutrition and obesity."" The stakes are high: Tucker must win the fair in order to gain both admission into the State Math and Science Academy and approval from his high-achieving divorced parents--his mother, a sympathetic but distracted psychologist, and his absentee father, a demanding neurologist. Some readers may be skeptical when Tucker's keenly observant school principal doesn't question the flimsy parameters of his project and allows him to focus his analysis on only one subject. (The principal and Tucker's father both repeatedly admonish that ""science is a tool for helping people."") However, the breezy narration and plausible ending more than offset this leap of logic. Among the cast are Pig's warm and exuberant family; Mr. Wong, the proprietor of Tucker and his mother's favorite restaurant, who dispenses sage advice with his hot and spicy chicken; and the eccentric Beth Ellen, a science fair rival, activist and vegetarian, who recognizes Angelo's true value all along. Readers struggling to accept others and themselves will be affirmed by this comedy of human foibles. Ages 10-up. (Aug.)