THE BATHWATER GANG GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS

In another lightweight "Springboard Book," Bertie of The Bathwater Gang (1990) organizes a dog-washing business in hopes of earning enough for circus tickets. Finding that demand for the service is virtually nil, the gang comes up with what Granny, when she finds out, calla a "flimflam": they generate a need by getting the neighborhood pets dirty. Spinelli's practiced narration, well laced with amusing dialogue, reads with ease, but the adult appropriation of issues and action here is disappointing, Not only is it Granny who points out that what the kids' are doing is dishonest, but she also arranges for them to get to the circus after all, by means of a most unlikely arrangement: they earn their tickets by giving one of the circus elephants a bath. Maniac Magee pondered his own moral dilemmas and solved his own problems. A minor effort. (Fiction. 7-9)