LaLa Land

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Winnipeg,
Manitoba.

In the second volume of the Cyber Dimension Mysteries, Emily Thomson is
assisted by Troy Mackenzie, the brother of Mac, her co-adventurer from
Dirt Bike Rescue. Uncle Jim’s computer game is once more the source of
weird events as the characters cross “into another world, or another
dimension in cyberspace.” This time Emily, babysitting Tobi and Sasha,
loses the children to the computer game. In a panic, she calls Mac; Troy
responds, and he and Emily inadvertently end up in the game, with Emily
as a troll, Troy as a big butterfly, Sasha as a kitten, and only Tobi as
himself. The game takes them through fairy-tale scenarios: The Billy
Goats Gruff, The Ugly Duckling, London Bridge, Pussy in the Well, Humpty
Dumpty, Jack be Nimble, Hickory Dickory Dock, the Emperor and the
Nightingale, and Jack and the Beanstalk.

The narrative pace of this Okanagan adventure emulates computer
hyperlinks in speed and diversity. Renaud sets the game in Vernon’s
Polson Park, and Clarke’s illustrations include a map of the B.C. park
as it appears in Uncle Jim’s game. The characters are appealing and
their problem-solving is both practical and novel. More careful editing
might have caught a few awkward constructions, but young readers will
not notice as they enter “LaLa Land” in this fast-paced and
inventive story. Recommended.