SEA LEGS

A breathless, stream-of-consciousness first-person narrative voice, offbeat humor, and an oddly adult sensibility combine in a rambling adventure that may leave readers feeling as if they have just heard a very long shaggy dog tale. Twins Clive and Eric are motherless. Their father works as a steward on a cruise ship. Determined to stay close to their dad, the boys decide to stow away on his ship. How they escape detection (even when they unexpectedly run into a classmate and his family) and thwart an attack by thieves (the most improbable event in an unlikely plot) makes up the bulk of their story. Eric’s faux naïve voice (he describes the women who occasionally spend the night with his father as “tired”) and exaggerated criticism of his brother may grate on readers’ nerves after the first 100 pages. Coincidences and sheer luck enable the twins to save the ship and escape punishment for their escapade. A final revelation suggests that the twins’ relationship has changed dramatically. Unfortunately, most readers won’t much care. (Fiction. 9-12)