(3) 1-3 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Adam McCauley. A game of Marco Polo lands the Time Warp Trio in thirteenth-century China, where the lads befriend the famous Italian explorer, feast with Kublai Khan, and outwit Khan's jealous astrologer. Through it all, the boys keep up their lively patter: "I really, really do not like cats." "Allergies?" "Yeah, I'm allergic to their sharp teeth." Another must-read for series fans.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) 1-3 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Adam McCauley. Narrator Joe and friends Fred and Sam time-travel to Renaissance Italy where they meet Leonardo. The central conflict--the boys must create an invention for the Italian army or face conscription--seems like a pro forma plot device in this short novel whose primary appeal is its fast pace, silly humor, and constant action. Arch, cartoony black-and-white art appears throughout.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 1-3 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Adam McCauley. Narrator Joe and friends Sam and Fred travel a thousand years back in time and visit the Mayan city of Chichen Itza. Sentenced to death by High Priest Kakapupahed, the boys use their basketball skills to turn the tables on their nemesis. The souped-up pacing, lowbrow comedy, and comical black-and-white illustrations will make this book a hit with reluctant readers.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Adam McCauley. In their latest adventure, Joe, Sam, and Fred travel back to 1000 C.E., where they meet up with Leif Eriksson and a crew of bloodthirsty Vikings. Illustrated with comic art, the fast-paced story delivers the kind of nonstop action, mischievous humor (two of the Vikings are named Fulluvit and Bullshik), and wisecracking dialogue that will especially appeal to reluctant readers.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Adam McCauley. In another wacky adventure, Joe, Sam, and Fred find themselves warped back to 1877 New York, where they see the Brooklyn Bridge being built, meet up with their time-traveling great-granddaughters, encounter Thomas Edison, and play a game of old-time baseball at Prospect Park. The unfocused plot makes this entry less cohesive than usual, though it still contains the same frenetic pace, flip humor, and comical illustrations.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Adam McCauley. A school haiku-writing assignment is responsible for Joe, Fred, and Sam traveling back in time to seventeenth-century Japan. A fortuitous meeting with their own time-traveling great-granddaughters saves the boys from having to contend with the questionable intentions of a future samurai shogun. The lightning pace and breezy tone make this an amusing, quick read.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Adam McCauley. Joe, Sam, and Fred are off on another adventure--this time to ancient Rome. They introduce food-fighting to the students at a gladiator school, show off TV wrestling moves in the Colosseum, and hunt down the book that will return them to the present. It's all madcap fun, as usual; what's unusual is that this is the first volume in the series not illustrated by Lane Smith.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(3) 4-6 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Lane Smith. The Larry, Moe, and Curly of time travel are back, this time getting themselves stuck in their own irreverent play about Greek mythology. Fans of other books in the series will find much to chuckle over, such as the one-liners traded by Hera, insult queen of Mount Olympus, and Sam. Included are a cast list of all the gods and goddesses and tongue-in-cheek instructions for making props.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(3) 4-6 Time Warp Trio series. Illustrated by Lane Smith. In another installment in the popular series, literary mayhem ensues when the boys are transported into a jumbled gathering of all the characters from the books on their school's summer reading list. Like they did in The Stinky Cheese Man, Scieszka and Smith poke fun at literary conventions as they spin a clever scenario of what might happen if Frog and Toad, Long John Silver, Ramona, and other children's fiction notables ended up on the same page.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann