cover image THE PRINCESS OF NEPTUNE

THE PRINCESS OF NEPTUNE

Quentin Dodd, . . FSG, $17 (224pp) ISBN 978-0-374-36119-8

Dodd's (Beatnik Rutabagas from Beyond the Stars ) second book continues his spirited exploration of the places where science fiction and high comedy intersect. Narrator Theora Theremin, a junior high school student, is a music buff and drummer in a punk band ("We didn't have a name yet, and it was possible that we never would"). Desperate for a science project topic, she decides to research local legend Big Phil ("the monster that's supposed to live in Lake Philodendron"). While Theora waits for Phil to show himself (or not), a submarine rises from the lake and a man in a wet suit appears; her nerdy younger tagalong brother, Verb, recognizes the man as Dr. Jonathan Übermind, legendary scientist and world-traveler. The man recruits Verb and Theora to work at the Übermind Junior Research Institute (the slogan on his business card: "Knowing Things Is Good"). But on their way to the doctor's facility, the siblings are kidnapped by giant cockroaches from the moon, and they force Theora to enter the Cavalcade of Loveliness, an intergalactic beauty pageant at which the winner is crowned Princess Neptune. Dodd heightens the humor with the Beast of the Mall who haunts the Neptune Galleria (the Beast turns out to be a talking fern) and intrigue surrounding Hortense Benway ("current Princess of Neptune and intergalactically famous Giant Singing Cockroach"), who vanishes during the pageant. Dodd keeps the laughs coming at a steady pace and offers silliness without sarcasm. A quick read and a pleasurable interplanetary ride. Ages 10-up. (Sept.)