From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5-This sequel to Be First in the Universe (Delacorte, 2000) reunites twins Tessa and Tod with Gemini Jack, who has a store at the mall and once again needs their help to save his planet from the invading Vorons. Previously, the twins had been instrumental in preserving the safety of that faraway land by stealing DNA from the nasty Gneiss twins and injecting the residents of Gemini so that they will fight back. In turn, some niceness was injected into the Gneiss siblings, making them sickeningly sweet. At the mall, Tessa and Todd meet rock drummer Nigel Throbber, who claims to hate his fawning fans so Jack sprays him with "Fame Ban," which lasts for 15 minutes. However, it turns out that the wrong spray was used; this one has an expiration date of never. Now, no one recognizes him and he is horribly depressed. In the end, Nigel lands on Gemini, which holds the only antidote to the spray, the Gneiss twins are reinjected with their own DNA, and balance is restored. The characters are zany, yet believable; real, yet surreal. This is a fitting follow-up to the first book. Purchase where it is popular.Kay Bowes, Concord Pike Library, Wilmington, DE Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 3-6. A daft and deft mixture of mall culture, sf tropes, and flower-child references bedazzle in this sequel to Be the First in the Universe (2000). Twins Tessa and Tod live on a farm with their grandparents Lou and Lulu, who met at Woodstock. When we last tuned in, the twins had saved the home planet of Gemini Jack, an alien vendor at the mall whose shop shimmers into and out of existence. This time, Tod and Tessa are befuddled by the newly nice nature of the Gneiss twins and by the nastiness of Grandpa's prize goats, Twist and Shout. When aging rock star Nigel Throbber appears at the mall, Tessa and Tod engineer his escape from the fans by taking him into Gemini Jack's and having him sprayed with Jack's Fame Ban. Goats, formerly evil twins, celebrity joshing, and further difficulties at Jack's home planet are all resolved in a side-splitting finale. For those looking for something out of this world. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"This will have readers rocking with laughter and rolling in the aisles.” –Kirkus Reviews
.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Review
"This will have readers rocking with laughter and rolling in the aisles.? ?Kirkus Reviews
.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Book Description
Once again Gemini Jack is in his shop at the Middle Valley Mall, offering out-of-this-world gadgets for rent. And once again he’s hoping twins Tod and Tessa can help him with problems on his home planet. But Tod and Tessa have problems of their own. The Gneiss twins, who were once so evil they scared their own mother, are now sickeningly nice. Worse, they’ve decided that Tod and Tessa are their best friends. It’s as if the entire balance of the universe has gone kablooey! Then there’s Nigel Throbber, a great rock drummer in his time–a long, long time ago. Using one of Jack’s unearthly gadgets, Tod and Tessa help Nigel escape from his fame temporarily–only to learn that the effects are permanent! Once they restore Nigel’s celebrity, all they have to do is save Jack’s planet and convince Nancy Gneiss that she doesn’t really have a crush on Tod–which makes restoring the balance of the universe look like a total breeze.
Card catalog description
Their alien friend Gemini Jack tries to help twins Tod and Tessa but his actions backfire when he turns the evil Gneiss twins super-nice and removes drummer Nigel Throbber's celebrity by spraying him with permanent Fame Ban.
From the Inside Flap
Once again Gemini Jack is in his shop at the Middle Valley Mall, offering out-of-this-world gadgets for rent. And once again he’s hoping twins Tod and Tessa can help him with problems on his home planet. But Tod and Tessa have problems of their own. The Gneiss twins, who were once so evil they scared their own mother, are now sickeningly nice. Worse, they’ve decided that Tod and Tessa are their best friends. It’s as if the entire balance of the universe has gone kablooey! Then there’s Nigel Throbber, a great rock drummer in his time–a long, long time ago. Using one of Jack’s unearthly gadgets, Tod and Tessa help Nigel escape from his fame temporarily–only to learn that the effects are permanent! Once they restore Nigel’s celebrity, all they have to do is save Jack’s planet and convince Nancy Gneiss that she doesn’t really have a crush on Tod–which makes restoring the balance of the universe look like a total breeze.
Expiration Date: Never ANNOTATION
Their alien friend Gemini Jack tries to help twins Tod and Tessa but his actions backfire when he turns the evil Gneiss twins super-nice and removes drummer Nigel Throbber's celebrity by spraying him with permanent Fame Ban.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Gemini Jack is back in his shop at the Middle Valley Mall, and once again he’s hoping twins Tod and Tessa can help him with problems on his home planet. But Tod and Tessa have problems of their own. The Gneiss twins, once so evil they scared their own mother, are now sickeningly nice. It’s as if the entire balance of the universe has gone kablooey! Then Tod and Tessa use one of Jack’s gadgets to help the great rock drummer, Nigel Throbber, escape from his fame temporarily–only to learn the effects are permanent! Now they need to give Nigel back his celebrity, save Jack’s planet, and convince Nancy Gneiss that she doesn’t really have a crush on Tod. Which makes restoring the balance of the universe look like a breeze. . . .
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature
This sequel to Be First in the Neighborhood continues the adventures of Tod and Tessa, their hippy grandparents and the alien Jack who runs a store on the third floor of the Mall. This one features a surfeit of characters that readers may have trouble keeping straight, but the authors tie up the many antic plot threads by the story's end. It seems that the Gneiss twins are too nice after the previous book's alien straightening out of their DNA;a rocker named Nigel Throbber can't find an audience for his Drummerdammerung symphony, and the grandparents' obnoxious Patagonia goats are driving everyone nuts. So Tod and Tessa have to sort it all out while dodging various characters and having their alien connections exposed. Outer space gadgets abound, including Effie, a fib eater that beeps in the presence of lies, a doll in the image of Jack who communicates to earth, and a spray called Fame Ban that neuters Nigel's rocker appeal. The story demands some attention to keep the plot and characters straight. Still, for good readers who like fantasy stories a little more complicated than Elizabeth Levy's fantasy/sci fi novels, this is a good choice. 2001, Delacorte Press, $14.95. Ages 8 to 11. Reviewer:Susan Hepler
School Library Journal
Gr 3-5-This sequel to Be First in the Universe (Delacorte, 2000) reunites twins Tessa and Tod with Gemini Jack, who has a store at the mall and once again needs their help to save his planet from the invading Vorons. Previously, the twins had been instrumental in preserving the safety of that faraway land by stealing DNA from the nasty Gneiss twins and injecting the residents of Gemini so that they will fight back. In turn, some niceness was injected into the Gneiss siblings, making them sickeningly sweet. At the mall, Tessa and Todd meet rock drummer Nigel Throbber, who claims to hate his fawning fans so Jack sprays him with "Fame Ban," which lasts for 15 minutes. However, it turns out that the wrong spray was used; this one has an expiration date of never. Now, no one recognizes him and he is horribly depressed. In the end, Nigel lands on Gemini, which holds the only antidote to the spray, the Gneiss twins are reinjected with their own DNA, and balance is restored. The characters are zany, yet believable; real, yet surreal. This is a fitting follow-up to the first book. Purchase where it is popular.-Kay Bowes, Concord Pike Library, Wilmington, DE Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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