Dragonbreath: Curse of the Were-wiener (Dragonbreath series)

Third and maybe wackiest in the Dragonbreath series so far, this hybrid novelette starts with Danny Dragonbreath, in the middle of a scary dream lit by a full moon, where he has a premonition that there is something wrong with his best friend, Wendell, an iguana. At lunchtime in the school cafeteria that day, Danny's overly large and bright red hot dog bites Wendell's finger, which is definitely not a normal occurrence. By the next day, Wendell's finger has turned candy-apple red, and his back is growing hair. Sneaking into the cafeteria's walk-in freezer to investigate, Danny finds an unusual package of hot dogs with the label "Were-Wieners, a product of Transylvania."

Danny and Wendell call the 1-800 number on the hot dog package label, and speak to Reginald at Wurst-R-Us. (My favorite line: Reginald yells out, "Vlad! Another batch of the were-wieners went feral!") Reginald tells them they must find and kill the pack leader, the alpha wurst, with a silver skewer within three days or Wendell will become its minion. A late-night trip to the sewer to release a rogue potato salad, an "ancient enemy of the hot dog," might be their only hope. Witty one-liners and black and green-toned illustrations on every page, often incorporating balloon dialogue, graphic novel style, will keep readers rolling.

Check out the animated webisode at www.penguin.com/Dragonbreath. In addition to werewolves, other extreme adventures Danny and Wendell have faced in the Dragonbreath series include samurai, volcanoes, dangerous frogs, and a giant squid.

Reviewed by : JF.

Themes : FANTASY. GRAPHIC NOVELS. HUMOR. SCHOOLS & SCHOOL STORIES.