NASTY, STINKY SNEAKERS

When 10-year-old Colin's dirty sneakers disappear from outside his apartment door, he's sure the culprit is Jack, his chief rival in a contest for the most offensive footwear (the prize: two new pairs of Slam Dunkers). Colin retaliates by hiding Jack's sneakers—only to discover that a well-meaning neighbor had actually rescued, washed, and returned his own, thus ruining his chance of winning. Hoping to undo the mischief, Colin, his little sister Amy, and best pal Webster plunge into the depths of a garbage truck, retrieve Jack's sneakers, and return them just in time. However, since obnoxious Jack and his bully brother Shrike have broken the sneaker-messing rules, none of the boys wins; the prize goes to Colin's secret sweetheart. Curiously, the icky appeal, kid-tickling story line, and lesson about integrity and fairness here all closely parallel those in Julie Ann Peters's half-as-long The Stinky Sneaker Contest (1992). (Fiction. 8-11)