The Unflushables

After a nefarious corporation wrests control of Nitro City%E2%80%99s sewers, plumbers are banned, and mutant beasts begin emerging from drains. Since the toilets are constantly clogged at Gloomy Valley Middle School, 13-year-old Sully Stringfellow, who works after school as an %E2%80%9Coutlaw%E2%80%9D plumber%E2%80%99s helper, is recruited to apprehend the %E2%80%9CPhantom Clogger%E2%80%9D before Taco Tuesday, when, the principal says, %E2%80%9CI need every stall open for business.%E2%80%9D The premise of Bates%E2%80%99s (How to Make Friends and Monsters) satirical romp gives him free rein with potty puns, yet the humor extends further, fueled by Sully%E2%80%99s wry asides, droll badinage, and a colorful cast that includes a retired super-villain who lives in a secret underground lair; Sully%E2%80%99s crusty grandfather, member of a posse of crackerjack plumbers that guarded the sewers; and the boy%E2%80%99s parents, off in Fiji, where his mother sells repurposed spatulas, and his poet father searches for a word that rhymes with purple. An explosive%E2%80%94literally%E2%80%94finale wraps up this lighthearted, swift-paced saga of good vs. evil in a slimy underworld. Ages 8%E2%80%9312. Agent: Brandi Bowles, United Talent Agency. (Apr.)