It's only 57 pages, but it's a quirky and memorable read. William gets a filling in his tooth that unexpectedly acts as a radio antenna, allowing him to spy on aliens who want to invade Earth to eat all our junk food. It kind of reminded me of Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson. ( )

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Another silly story from Daniel Pinkwater, this one about a boy whose new dental filling enables to receive radio signals in his mouth, resulting in his unwitting discovery of an invasion of earth by Fat Men from Space who want all of our snack foods - especially potato pancakes. Great fun, as always. ( )

My ex-library copy has the orange and blue cover. It's a hardcover, with a picture of Pinkwater in the back, in which he looks just like one of the aliens from the title.

If you like the absurd, you'll like this more than I did. I just don't get it. I mean, I like Pinkwater enough to keep reading his works, but out of respect for his talent & suitability for other people. It's kind of like the reason I keep reading PKD.

The thing is, this is very creative. For example, in most sf for reluctant readers, the kid would save the world. Not here. An accidental discovery causes the invasion to halt, and there's no guarantee the Fat Men won't be back.

My favorite bit is the parents' reaction to learning that the boy's new filling was picking up radio signals. Pinkwater makes it clear that they're normal, loving parents, reacting reasonably... but also that their reaction infuriates the normal, loving boy, who is reacting reasonably accd to his perspective. ( )

Children's Catalog, Eighteenth Edition, 2001 ; H.W. Wilson; United States