From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6 Calvin and his mother have bad vibes when it comes to machinery, so Calvin's friend Dandelion, an alien who looks like a cat and was introduced in The Dandelion Caper (Putnam, 1986), brings to Earth a nullifier to protect her spaceship. The nullifier damages a U.S. space probe investigating Uranus, and Calvin's father, who helped program the probe, is in trouble. His troubles are complicated by the town sheriff, who is suspicious of Calvin's family and calls in the FBI. Dandelion takes Calvin, his friend, and his father to Uranus to fix the probe, but Calvin's vibes act up, causing Dandelion's ship to malfunc tion. Much is made of the chocolate chip cookies that provide the mass to move the ship. The other source of humor is Dandelion, who talks like Spock in fur. While this is an adequate story, it is not as original in ideas as the first story about Calvin ( Black Suits from Outer Space Putnam, 1985), and re lies on readers' familiarity with the characters. Libraries that have started the series will want to keep it up, but this book is not enough reason to go back and purchase the first two. Carolyn Caywood, Virginia Beach Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
