Why Did the Underwear Cross the Road?

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

As with most Korman books, his 20th begins with a plausible happening
into which the humorist inserts some quirky characters and situations to
produce ultimate mayhem. April is “Good Deed Month,” so the
principal of Spruce Valley Elementary School creates a contest in which
points will be awarded to groups of students for doing good deeds. The
prize for each grade’s top trio, a day at Tidal Wave Water Park, is
something 4th-grader Justin Zeckendorf desperately desires, but his
teacher’s habit of grouping students alphabe-tically means his
partners will be Margaret Zachary and Jessica Zander, “the two most
annoying girls in town.” The threesome’s first good-deed attempt
ends in disaster for both its intended recipient and the 3-Z’s, who
receive negative points for their efforts. Justin, the
self-characterized “Idea Man,” dissatisfied with slowly accumulating
points via “little” deeds, concocts grandiose schemes to make up for
his triad’s losses. Unfortunately his plans always backfire, and his
team’s score plummets further. Readers familiar with Korman’s plots
know that his losers eventually emerge winners; this time the means is
found within the answer to the title riddle: “To stop the car
thieves!”

While funny, Why Did the Underwear Cross the Road? is not Korman at his
best, and its contents will elicit more smiles than belly laughs. The
repeated “joke” of losing points is overworked, while the cast of
supporting “humorous” characters is not as strong as in earlier
Korman books. Nonetheless, Korman fans will still want his most recent
offering. Recommended.