Secret Life of Dilly Mcbean - Softcover

Haas, Dorothy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0022749551 ISBN 13: 9780022749552

Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1986

Synopsis

After being orphaned at an early age and spending years in boarding schools, Dilly begins a new life in a real house in a small town, developing secret magnetic powers under the tutelage of a kindly professor, until he is kidnapped by a madman who plans to control the world with a computer.Twelve-year-old Dilloway McBean, a wealthy orphan with strange magnetic powers, puts his magnetism to work as he matches wits with the dastardly Dr. Keenwit, a computer whiz out to steal Dilly's money and seize world power

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-6 Orphaned Dilly is rich and has a secret power: he can make himself magnetic when he chooses. After he attends a succession of private boarding schools, one of his guardians arranges for him to attend public school in a rural town. He acquires a dog, whose disobedience provides comic relief. The guardian, who knows his secret, arranges for a famous physicist to help Dilly experiment with his power. Meanwhile, a mad scientist plots to kidnap Dilly for ransom. Dilly foils the villain by magnetizing his computer, just as his school friends break into the bad guys' hideout to rescue Dilly. The loss of his parents and the need to keep his power a secret add dimension to Dilly's character, which is otherwise awfully sweet. In these qualities he will appeal to readers who like Alexander Key's Escape to Witch Mountain (Westminster, 1968). While the book moves slowly to the all-too-quickly-resolved climax, it does sustain interest. So much science fantasy for this age group has such rapid-fire pacing and pyrotechnics that this book stands out by its willingness to take time with the story and keep the super powers low-key. While not a great book, it does have more substance than many. Carolyn Caywood, Virginia Beach Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Dilly shouldn't have a care in the worldhe's a millionairebut mad scientists and spies creep into his life, and he's the only one who can foil them all. Ages 9-12.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan Publishing Company
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0022749551
• ISBN 13: 9780022749552
• Binding: Paperback