Attack of the Growling Eyeballs by Lin Oliver, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin - review

Attack of the Growling Eyeballs by Lin Oliver, illustrated by Stephen Gilpin
Feeling picked-on and underappreciated in your own family? Surrounded by people who don't understand you? What you need is a one-inch-tall identical twin brother. Really!

Daniel lives with his three sisters, his mom, his grandmother, and his great-grandmother, and he feels a little overlooked. One day, he shrinks to the size of his fourth toe. Yes, he does. He grows back to normal size, though. Perplexed to say the least, he turns to his great grandmother, Granny Nanny, who reveals that the tendency to shrink is a well-kept and little-understood family secret. Another secret is Pablo, his twin, whom even his mother has never known about. Granny has been raising Pablo in secret all these years. She suspects it's her goulash that makes people shrink.

Pablo, or "The Pablo" as he calls himself, is The Bomb. Nobody can hear him, so he is free to make wisecracks about the women of the house. He can give voice to the opinions and comments that Daniel would get SO beat up for. He can pick and choose what he wants to learn about - Granny homeschools him, but he hitches a ride to school with Daniel whenever Daniel's class is studying something interesting. Pablo can watch TV in the daytime. Pablo has lots of good ideas about how to have fun.

This is a super-funny, super-cool book for kids at about a 3rd grade reading level. The illustrations are slouchy and hip, and the cover is a can't-miss. So glad it's a series!