CHUCK DUGAN IS AWOL: A Novel with Maps

Anderson (brother of film director Wes Anderson) debuts with a whimsical little tale, which, though billed as fiction for grownups, falls into the no man's land between graphic novel and children's book. The story follows Naval Academy dropout, blueblood heir, junior inventor and master of disguise Chuck Dugan, 18, as he tries to stop his mother from marrying his father's arch-enemy, "The Admiral," and find the buried treasure his deceased father left for him. The pace is breathless, breaking only for quirky illustrations of a room, a character, a prop or an invention (the Powered Submersible Bicycle, for instance). Backstory—why would Chuck's mother want to marry the sociopathic Admiral? What is the buried treasure?—is largely ignored in favor of wacky forward momentum. Like a junior James Bond (minus the ladykiller business), Chuck wiggles his way out of messes just at the last minute: he escapes the Admiral's thugs via a propeller bike (which doesn't actually work) and narrowly avoids drowning when a pirated submarine rescues him. Silly, yes, amusing, yes—but it's also a little too lightweight and self-consciously cute. 35 color and b&w illus. Agent, Amanda Urban . (May)