Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 06/01/2019 Middle-schooler Charlie Pennypacker is thrilled his family is going on a real Caribbean cruise for vacation instead of taking their usual pretend one in their backyard. But he and his bratty six-year-old sister, Olive, soon realize that their cheapskate father booked them on a knock-off Disney cruise instead of the real thing. Even worse, Charlie's ex-best friend and next-door neighbor, half-Korean Gunter Hwang, shows up: Charlie's father is being paid to bring him along. Charlie and Gunter one-up each other as they realize two threatening black-suited men are following the ship from port-to-port. This illustrated mystery-adventure features wacky characters, deceptions, and lots of madcap situations, many involving pain-in-the neck Olive, whose favorite saying, frighteningly, is I will cook you like a French fry. Secondary characters are mere caricatures compared to the main ones, and the plot is a bit thin, but Charlie and Gunter's efforts to uncover the mystery are thoroughly enjoyable. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.