LEROY POTTS MEETS THE MCCROOKS

In this Yearling First Choice Chapter Book, Sathre (Three Kind Mice, p. 228, etc.) and Barnes-Murphy (who illustrated Frances Barnes-Murphy's Kings and Queens of Britain, 1996) gather their considerable wit and trot out a tale that will flapdoodle and delight beginning readers. It's a ``yippee-i-o kind of day'' when Leroy Potts, after saving up enough to buy a farm, sets off to ask Miss Hattie Mae Williston—a right good cook, and that's important to Leroy—to marry him. But a freak summer storm interrupts him, sending a double bolt of lightning that, ``quick as biscuits burn,'' takes his memory. And that's the moment that the McCrook brothers, Skete and Barney, show up to invite the confused Leroy to play a game of Rob and Run and point him at a restaurant. Leroy robs the valuables there—knives and forks and ``what's left of that blueberry pie.'' The McCrooks give Leroy another chance to play the game right, directing him this time to a passing train. But Leroy's ``look tough, sound gruff'' approach, plus his growling stomach, don't work any better this time. The McCrooks clarify their objective and send Leroy to the bank, where a knock to the head finally restores Leroy's memory, results in the catching of the McCrooks, and brings Miss Hattie Mae to a breathless ``Oh, yes, Leroy!'' A tall-tale contrivance in a wholly controlled, believable entertainment. (Fiction. 5-8)