The Undertaker's Gone Bananas

The multi-story Century Tower Apartment block has just opened, but the building is still largely unoccupied. Bobby and Laurie both live there and both go to the same nearby school. They have become firm friends. Bobby is highly strung and has a habit of saying just exactly what is on his mind. He is convinced that the world is full of bad people doing bad things, and as far as he is concerned he is not going to let them get away with it. As a result Bobby doesn't have many friends. In her recent past Laurie was a distraught witness of the death of a neighbor in a house-fire and as a result is troubled by fantasies of her own demise. She also has not made many friends at her new school. Together this odd couple go on a series of tricks and high-jinx that bring them dangerously close to the attention of the police. Then Mr. And Mrs. Hulka move in next door to Bobby. Driven by curiosity Bobby just has to find out more about this family. This book is written in the social realism style of Zindel's early, highly successful books, but also contains many elements of the horror/thriller mode which he perfected in his later books such as Night of the Bat and Loch. Half the fun of the book is trying to work out just exactly what is going on. There are also some quite funny scenes as Bobby 'goes off' full flight. The human detail give the book depth and help to make it more interesting and believable. This is definitely one of Zindel's better books and will keep you reading until the end.

I read this book for the fist time almost 30 years ago when I was ten years old. It was excellent then and I still love it. It was one of the many childhood books that led to my great love of reading. Great for young mystery solvers!!

THIS WAS A TRULEY INTRESTING BOOK WITH A LOT OF SURPRISES AND A VERY UNSUSPECTING AND TRULEY INSPERATIONAL ENDING

This book is about two children that see Mr. Hulka, their new neighbor kill someone in the next room. Since these children are often making up stories and getting into trouble, no one will believe them. It is up to them to prove to everyone that their neighbor is a murderer.I would definitely recommend this book. There was always something going on. The adventure never stopped. If you are into mysteries of any kind, I would definitely recommend this great book, because it always had me on the end of my seat, and turning the pages.

I am beginning my twenty-third year of teaching eighth graders, and this is still one of my favorite books to share with kids. Not only entertaining, it shows kids how they can use their wits to survive.