THE TWINKIE SQUAD

In his looniest farce yet, Korman inflicts two sixth-grade misfits on unsuspecting Thaddeus G. Little Middle School: Douglas Fairchild, son of a stupendously famous US Ambassador-at-Large; and Armando ``Commando'' Rivera, whose spiked hair, snake earring, and penchant for quixotic fistfights conceal an impressive grasp of foreign affairs. After the principal hastily assigns both to an after-school counseling group popularly known as ``The Twinkie Squad,'' Douglas proclaims his fellow space cadets Grand Knights of the Exalted Karpoosi—a meaningless honor until his planned garlic-squid-with-mango-and-banana banquet is accidentally sealed into a classroom ceiling and the subsequent chain of events convinces the student body that the Grand Knights are a secret club devoted to practical jokes. The story careens on past Commando's dinner discussion of Scandinavian trade policy with the President and Douglas's literally explosive portrayal of George Washington in a school play to a conclusion in which everyone—even the principal—learns something about maturity and tolerance. A wild ride, but the characters are set down gently at the end, leaving readers somewhat wiser—and breathless with laughter. (Fiction. 11+)