There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. Readers may appreciate references to dyslexia as another kind of magic. Infused with cheerful flecks of British humor, the characters eventually endear themselves to readers, especially as Isadore proves to be an incompetent villain tired of immortality. Light and fluffy when not bogged down in explanations, the narrative gives occasional overt or implied nods to Harry Potter, James Bond, Narnia and Alice in Wonderland. A Time-Glass that shows events from the past and magical postcards add to the fun. Helpful cohorts include a skateboarding neighborhood boy named Caydon, with talking-animal assistance provided by a plump cat named Demerara and a rat named Spike. Ongoing challenges range from fighting off the demands of the Schmertz Gang for magical chocolate and dealing with the Secret Ministry of the Unexplained to assuaging the immortal and evil Isadore’s pain over unrequited love for his sister-in-law, Daisy. At first it’s just a lark, but soon the kids are drawn into a vortex of historical tensions involving their mysterious triplet relatives-great-great-uncles Pierre and Isadore and great-grandfather Marcel. When the Spoffard family inherits 18 Skittle Street, London, twins Lily and Oz are pleased to discover it includes a now-defunct old-fashioned chocolate shop. What do you get when you mix chocolate, magic, dyslexia and immortality? Plenty of zany intrigue, that’s what.
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