DUMP DAYS

Two sixth-grade boys plan a perfect vacation day, but the reality is somewhat different from their expectations. For J.D. Kidd and his best friend, Duke Pickwell—who live on a dead-end street near the town dump—dreams come in modest sizes, usually food-related. The two spend much of their time scheming how to make money; their ideas, while not exactly original, often show the odd flair that made Spinelli's Who Put That Hair in My Toothbrush such a hit. A mole show, a scrapple restaurant, and a wild scheme to ride a freight to New York and become sidewalk vendors all fail to materialize; the buddies fall out when J.D. chickens out of the last scheme at the eleventh hour. Surprisingly, the violin playing of a Vietnamese refugee girl brings the two back together; meanwhile, a conflict between J.D. and a neighborhood nemesis provides suspense, and success at organizing a local fair assures a happy ending—with a twist that leads to redefinition of "a perfect day." Should provide readers with enough offbeat vignettes of slightly rundown suburban life to carry them through some dog days of their own.