Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster

Lockie Leonard, a thirteen-year-old Australian surfer, moves to a new town and befriends Egg, a long-haired Metal Head, while trying to save the local harbor from being buried in industrial waste.

Grade 5-9Readers in search of a sincere bit of fun should not miss this fast-paced, slightly whacked-out sequel to Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo (Little, Brown, 1992). From the punning first chapter title, Lockie Leonard, Bloomin Stupido to the climactic Operation Constipation, this likable and enthusiastic Australian-surfer protagonist will entertain readers. Lockie, now 13, breaks his personal surfer code of ethics by developing a friendship with Geoff (aka Egg), a bogan, or metal head. Egg defends his appreciation of heavy metal music, suggesting that it is more voidage than drasticality which means that it is more about getting numb than it is about suicide. They embark on an ecological crusade to expose the corruption and industrial irresponsibility that are destroying the quality of the water and of life in their harbor town. Lockie also falls instantly and hilariously in love with Dot, an Elle McPherson look-alike surfer. In quick succession, she blows him out of the water with her technique; obliterates his self-respect when he finds out shes only 11-years-old; and, after a mind-blowing but chaste first kiss, dumps him. Vicki Streeton, Lockies love interest from the first book also makes a couple of strategic appearances. Short chapters and physical humor should appeal to reluctant but capable readers. Diverse adult characters add interest. Like Phyllis Reynolds Naylors Alice, Lockie has legs that can carry Winton through as many future episodes as he cares to detail. Heres hoping there will be plenty more.Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Jr. High School, Iowa City, IA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this sequel to Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo (1992), Winton continues to chronicle the tempestuous life of 13-year-old Lockie, Australian surfer kid and lover. Lockie keeps falling in love, this time with a girl who's a better surfer than he is, and who, to his embarrassment, is 11. He is responsible when his unlikely new best friend and minister's son, Egg, gets into metal music and all-black clothing. The ostensible plot involves Lockie and Egg's attempts to prod their indifferent town into cleaning up the nauseating pollution in their harbor. That easily won environmental battle is the only part of the book that doesn't work, but Winton's quirky characterizations fuel the real thrust of the book: laugh-out-loud scenes as Lockie struggles with being 13. Winton knows surfing, understands adolescence, and exhibits great comic pacing; he's a flat-out good writer, and this is a flat-out funny book. (Fiction. 8-13) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Grade 5-9-An adolescent surfer and his "Metal Head" friend set out to clean up their polluted Australian harbor. These unlikely friends and even more unlikely heroes will win readers over with their big-hearted actions and their hilarious repartee. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.