MY EVIL TWIN

A mildly amusing, extremely far-fetched take on the perennial adolescent desire to transform oneself. Jellimiah John Jensen gets the perfect opportunity to escape his dorky seventh-grade persona when his mother, a surgeon, transfers from Los Angeles to a town just north of New York City. His old school accidentally sends two transcripts—one in the name of John, as he had requested, and one in the name of Jellimiah. When the school principal expresses an interest in meeting John's ``twin,'' he sees her mistake and invents a new personality, acting the roles of the tough, rakish Jellimiah and the nerdy, sweet John on alternate days. A series of mishaps, deceptions, and ever-larger whoppers told to classmates, teachers, his mother, and the principal culminate in a class party where he switches identities after each dance. He solves his dilemma with a twist as unlikely as the rest of the plot, and rechristens himself J.J., integrating both his outrageous and clean-cut selves. Although this tale never actually lives up to the intrigue of its title, cartoonish characters don't slow the pace, and it may find readers among those who suspect that behind their own nerdy exteriors are miscreants yearning to get out. (Fiction. 11-13)