YOU CHEAT!

The dynamic in these brief, pithy chapters is established at the start: From playing cards to going fishing, Nathan is a ``doer,'' while his older brother Hank loves to sit still with a hand-sized video game. Nathan needs a partner to play cards and wants Hank's company for fishing off the dock. Hank pretends to find fishing just plain boring, and putting worms on hooks revolting, but Nathan is persuasive; he will kiss, on the mouth, any fish his brother catches. It's a pledge too good to pass up. Gilson, known for her middle-grade novels, spins a one-argument story into dialogue-laden episodes; but even though she has a good ear for the bantering of young boys, such blow-by-blow conversation doesn't always make for interesting reading, nor does it contribute to sturdy character development. Still, Nathan is admirably brave, and readers will respond to the fish-kissing, rib-tickling topic—and to the sunny, full-color illustrations on every page. (Fiction/Young reader. 6-9)