The Night of Wishes: Or, the Satanarchaeolidealcohellish Notion Potion

On New Year's Eve, Maledictus Maggot, bailiff to His Excellency the Minister of Pitch Darkness, arrives in the laboratory of Shadow Sorcery Minister Beelzebub Preposteror, to remind Beelzebub that he is behind on his contract to wreak havoc on the world, and that if he does not make good before midnight, His Hellish Excellency will ``foreclose.'' In order to avoid this fearsome fate Beelzebub, together with his aunt, Tyrannia Vampirella (who has also been threatened with ``foreclosure''), set out to brew the eponymous Notion Potion, a powerful punch that will grant them their every wish. Meanwhile, Beelzebub's cat Mauricio and Tyrannia's raven Jacob get wise to the plot,stet comma/eed and launch a desperate quest to stop their masters and thereby save the world. Ende ( The Neverending Story ) has brewed a potent dose of comic fantasy, bubbling over with clever wordplay and slapstick incidents, and spiked with verse. Although the prose (or perhaps the translation from the German) is not always graceful nor idiomatic, sheer momentum and the raw power of Ende's inventiveness are sufficient to carry readers all the way through this extravaganza. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)