THE SMALL ADVENTURE OF POPEYE AND ELVIS

Popeye’s life lacks excitement, living as he does down a gravel road bordering the woods in rural South Carolina with his dog Boo and his Grandmother Velma, who preserves her sanity by incessantly reciting the kings and queens of England. So when a silver motor home packed with the six wild children of the Jewell family gets stuck and stranded in the mud, he couldn’t be happier. During the brief, magical time the motor home remains, he and Elvis, the eldest Jewell, discover in the creek boats fashioned from Yoo-hoo packages, each with an intriguing message. The mystery of their source demands resolution, although it means occasionally disobeying Velma’s edicts. Seeking the source of the boats, their adventures are, as the title indicates, mild, but they perfectly capture the thrills that fill long summer days. Although O’Connor only briefly describes the characters, each one comes instantly and distinctly to life. Fast-paced, short and easy to read, but spiced up with the challenging vocabulary words that Velma teaches and Popeye adores and abounding with quirky, likable characters, this small gem has the power to keep readers entranced. (Fiction. 8-12)