A Nose for Adventure

"A Nose for Adventure" brings back Alan Dingwall and the alien from Jupiter who likes to live in noses. This time, Norbert is residing in the nose of a scruffy dog named Sally, and Alan is visiting his father in New York. However, his father doesn't show up at the airport, and Alan finds himself lost and alone with the wheelchair-bound Frieda, a sarcastic and somewhat angry girl a year older than himself. The two end up smack dab in the middle of quite the adventure: thieves are smuggling in Egyptian artifacts on the very flight the two kids took, and it seems that Frieda - whose parents also neglected to show up - might hold the key to solving the mystery. The strength of Richard Scrimger's writing is in his characters. Alan, the narrative voice of the book, is a completely realistic young man (or at least, as realistic a young man as one could be when caught up in an illegal Egyptian artifact smuggling right with a wheelchair-bound cranky girl and a dog with an alien in its nose). Reactions of both adult and child alike are done intelligently, and presented with a realistic emotional overtone: When Alan's father doesn't show at the airport, for example, Alan has a mental replay of his divorced parents fighting about his father's lack of responsibility. Put simply, Scrimger doesn't pull punches, and it's a pleasant surprise - it's also a nice reminder of just how young kids tend to think - and what they think - about the world around them. A good tale for reading aloud, "A Nose for Adventure" will likely promote some intelligent questions from the child that reads it. The chapters are just the right length for bitesized nightly reading sessions before bed, and I, for one, can't wait to read the book again - this time with my nephew. First, though, I think I'll go grab a copy of "Nose from Jupiter," the first book in the series. "A Nose for Adventure" didn't suffer for my lack of reading the first book, but I imagine it will flourish with the other half of the tale. From what I hear, there's a sequel, "Noses are Red" due out sometime this year...

Fabulous. Scrimger not only has a nose for great plots and plot twists, his use of language is musical and his humor is magical. Great for kids but an enjoyable read for adults who want to share the experience with their children.