Fitzgerald continues to chronicle his adventures with his older brother Tom, the Great Brain. This volume gets a little repetitive with the opening and closing chapters both involving the boys sneaking out at night to places forbidden by their parents. In each case, Tom shames other boys into going out late at night to prove his point, either that monsters do exist or that ghosts don't.

The real charm of this series lies in its accurate portrayal of the characters. Tom does always think up great schemes, but he doesn't always benefit from them. When Tom starts his own newspaper, he tries to scoop his father's paper and he prints mostly gossip that hurts his neighbors. Every kid has to learn at some point that probably everyone does know the juicy stories, but that bringing those stories out in the public eye can do great harm. Tom wanted to work for his father, but his father wisely tells Tom that Tom has only proved that he hasn't matured enough to work for the paper.

But Tom has his good points too. When Old Butch, the well known and loved town mongrel dog dies, Tom arranges to give Butch a hero's funeral. Tom eulogizes Butch by praising his availability to all the kids whose parents wouldn't allow a dog in the home. Tom can use his great brain for both the best and the worst uses, and he (and hopefully we too) learn from these simple yet touching stories.

-- Terry L Jeffress
   <jeffress@xmission.com>