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The Atlantic Ocean. Somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle…
This is the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Viking.
It’s over three football fields long.
It weighs 101,000 tons.
It’s a big ship.
And right now it’s in big trouble!

"The storm came out of nowhere! It wasn't on the radar!"

Meanwhile, belowdecks, a man is packing a cardboard box. He doesn’t know about the storm and the danger outside. He is thinking about his kids.

They are very far away and he misses them.

Suddenly a siren sounds! WHOOOOT! WHOOOOT!

The man gasps, “A plane is in trouble!” Then he scrambles out the cabin door.

He leaves the package sitting open on his bunk.

He doesn’t know that this box is about to change everything…

Chapter 1
What Stinks?

Today stinks! thought Zeke. Stinks in a big way, like…walrus burps!

Zeke sat at the back of the old school bus as it rumbled along. He watched the crazy houses in his neighborhood roll past the window. Most of the people that lived in his town loved the ocean, just like Zeke’s dad. He was in the navy and worked on an aircraft carrier. Zeke sighed when the bus chugged by a house shaped like a submarine. It had been Jimbo’s home until yesterday.

Jimbo was Zeke’s best friend. And they had lots of awesome plans. First, they were going to build go-carts and race down Dead-Man’s Ditch. But Jimbo, who always had wild and crazy ideas, decided they should build a rocket ship instead! They were going to be the first nine-year-olds in outer space. Jimbo already knew how to make real smoke bombs. How much tougher could it be to build a rocket? Zeke knew it would be super cool!

Then Jimbo’s dad got a new job in a new town. And Jimbo moved away. Just like that. Zeke scowled. He couldn’t build a rocket by himself. And Dad was gone for six months again—far away, somewhere at sea. When you worked on an aircraft carrier you were gone a lot. Zeke sighed again. He missed Jimbo. He missed Dad. With a screech of brakes, the bus jerked to a stop.

“Come on,” called a high, squeaky voice.

“Last one off the bus is a rotten jelly bean.” Zeke’s little sister, Hannah, jumped up and ran for the door. Zeke followed slowly.

“Zeke’s a smelly jelly bean!” shouted Hannah, bounding off the bus.

“Today stinks big time,” Zeke muttered.

“Part comic book, part chapter book, this is a great bridge between the two and your young monster-lover will love it.” - Terri Schlichenmeyer, Bookworm Sez

This well-plotted and fanciful opener promises a series that early chapter-book readers will appreciate. Nine-year-old Zeke and his little sister, Hannah, start having all manner of trouble after a package arrives from their father, who is stationed overseas. It turns out, after some preliminary investigation and humorous mini mysteries, that the source of the problem is Otto, a smelly but essentially sweet little monster who saved himself from drowning by hitching a ride on their father’s aircraft carrier. Set in the kids’ house, school, and neighborhood, the tale unfolds with a few nicely handled subplots, including one about a bully who is eventually bested by the beast. It’s likely that the nasty fellow will need to be reconquered again in future episodes, adding a dynamic that readers will enjoy anticipating in addition to sillier high jinks from Otto. Bouncy cartoon illustrations and a few passages in comic-strip format punctuate the brief chapters, but the narrative is seamless despite these multiple storytelling approaches. A good start to the Beast Friends Forever series.
— Francisca Goldsmith


Nine-year-old Zeke’s father sends a care package to Zeke and his younger sister Hannah from an aircraft carrier in the Bermuda Triangle. When the package arrives and the kids bust it open fighting over it, candy wrappers flutter out—but no candy. Soon strange things begin to happen around the house: Snacks disappear, odd voices grumble in Zeke’s room, sneakers and dolls vanish. Zeke and Hannah mount a monster hunt and FIND ONE! Beast is a tiny magical refugee from Triangle Island, which is currently ruled by evil trolls. He has the tricksy magic of “swap-o.” For a short time, he can swap items from there (Triangle Island) to here. Zeke and Hannah find that can cause trouble, but it can also solve bully problems. Illustrator Nate Evans collaborates with his younger brother Vince for this wide-eyed kickoff to a new series for the chapter-book crowd. Fast action scenes switch to graphic format, and all of the copious black-and-white illustrations resemble cleaned-up MAD magazine comics with more goggling eyes. Good for a few goofy laughs.

This kickoff volume of the Beast Friends Forever series is a screwball comedy from brothers Nate and Vince Evans (the Humpty Dumpty Jr., Hardboiled Detective books). When Zeke and Hannah’s father, who’s stationed on an aircraft carrier in the Bermuda Triangle, sends them a box filled with candy, it arrives empty. A shadowy shape lurking behind the kids presages their discovery of an impish beast that has stowed away. An escapee from an island that’s been commandeered by trolls, Otto takes up residence under Zeke’s bed and wows the siblings with his "tricksy tricks," which include transforming objects into fantastical creatures, one of which helps Otto best the school bully. Most of the story is written as a heavily illustrated chapter book, though it jumps into graphic novel format when the action escalates; the hyperbolic line art helps move the story along briskly. Adding to the inanity is ample potty talk and insult-hurling ("booger-brain" is oft-used), and Otto’s lingo—a combination of pirate-speak and nonsense (he calls the marauding trolls "slimy pickle-noses" and "hairy skunk-sniffers")—should bring on giggles.