Kritzerland

Book excerpt: Ten-year-old Benjamin Kritzer is back. Having survived his Martian parents (thus far), having survived a broken heart (when the nine-year-old love of his life, Susan Pomeroy, moved to Canada), and having survived the Bad Men, Benjamin has a whole new slew of adventures to deal with in Kritzerland. They include the horrifying prospect of going to junior high school (and the more-horrifying prospect of having to wear a jockstrap in Gym class), visiting the new amusement park, Pacific Ocean Park, where he finally gets to visit his parents' home planet on the Flight to Mars ride, meeting The Three Stooges, visiting a movie set at Paramount Studios, going to St. Louis, dealing with his psychotic brother and "What is it, fish?" grandfather, and, most importantly, meeting his first real friend, Paul Daley. The story of that close and endearing friendship is hilarious and touching, and the portrait of growing up in the magical city that was Los Angeles in the late 1950s is vivid and razor-sharp, and will make you feel like you've taken a time machine back to another wonderful, more innocent era.