(2) 4-6 Link + Hud series. The high-spirited brothers are up to more high jinks in this entertaining sequel to Link + Hud: Heroes by a Hair (rev. 5/23). In summer, the community rec center, complete with too many pickleball courts and both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, is the place to be. After a sunscreen fight gone wrong results in the outdoor pool's closure, the boys take their copious imaginations inside. They're spotted by a swim coach -- first as human cannonballs, then soaked in their Sunday best (i.e., their version of "wetsuits") -- whose no-nonsense approach seems to be no match for their antics. But after many imaginative and humorous digressions around pirate ships, shark behavior, family pickleball, and more; and with wise words from their "occasional babysitter and former archnemesis" Ms. Joyce ("Lord knows y'all can be a handful, but you good boys. Y'all just gotta show this coach...that y'all can take all that wild energy you got and put it to some good"), the brothers become unlikely joiners. Happily for readers, though, the siblings' stint as team players does not dampen their exuberantly imaginative and individualistic spirits. Dynamic and varied black-and-white illustrations appear throughout, some alongside the lively text, others as cartoon panels, and occasionally overtaking the pages: SPLASHH.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025