Meet the Narrator, a funny and enlightening fellow who's most definitely in charge. "Would I like you if I met you?" he asks. "I'm not so sure I would." The Narrator starts the prologue three times, begins chapter two twice, and just when readers think the book will never begin... it does.
Something happens in the Prologue, however: a good-looking young man arrives at Professor Templeton's office to protest his failing grade. Their interview comes to an abrupt halt with the arrival of the titular twins ("The babies are coming!" the secretary announces). Ellis Weiner (Yiddish with Dick and Jane) fast-forwards to Abigail and John Templeton at age 12, being raised by their widowed inventor father. They prove they've inherited their father's intelligence and devise a clever contraption to deliver their request for a fox terrier. Their talents come in handy when the handsome failing student (from the Prologue) kidnaps the twins in exchange for credit (and the proceeds) of one of their father's inventions. Their getaway attempts makes for a page-turning and funny tale.
Jeremy Holmes's (There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly) blueprint-hued illustrations and an inviting design incorporate occasional word balloons, cameo appearances in the margins and chapter-ending "Questions for Review" (which may or may not be related to preceding events). This entertaining series will win over word lovers, mystery and puzzle solvers, fans of gadgets and those who previously had not thought of themselves as readers. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness