THE TERROR IN JENNY'S ARMPIT

A girl and her friends scramble to find a solution to a peculiar ailment.

Jenny Kim tends to leap before she looks, and it doesn’t usually end well. This time she’s really done it, though. When she and her equally adventurous classmates Fen Stenson and Barker Mifflin break into the abandoned Colossal Chemistry building, Jenny disturbs a fuzzy orange marble. Soon her armpit sprouts a bizarre, rapidly growing, one-eyed creation that’s nearly impossible to hide from everyone, including Jenny’s parents and the class bully. Papers that Fen stole from the Colossal Chemistry office reveal some important information: The thing is called a Snerb, it was created to fight pollution, and in order to remove it, they must locate its creator, Dr. Vernsy Von Vexler. Oh, and they need to move quickly, because the Snerb is voraciously hungry, and removing it will put the entire town of Nevermind at risk. Wacky humor and a breakneck pace make this tale perfect for middle graders. Readers will find Jenny’s story irresistibly compelling despite—or perhaps because of—the inventively grotesque depictions of the Snerb. The epilogue ties into the events of the next volume and promises more wild adventures. Characters’ descriptions are minimal, though Barker is depicted with brown skin in chapter heading illustrations, and artwork and the last name Kim suggest that Jenny has Asian ancestry.

Charmingly absurd and hilariously icky.