Elvis Is Missing

Gr 1-3–Hale’s newest offering is a loosely written romp in which a group of children and their baby sitter chase their dog, Elvis, through a space-time portal onto an alien planet, Kroon. Characteristic of this genre, our protagonists are assisted by guides, here in the form of humanoid aliens, who befriend the children and help them navigate Kroon’s obstacles in their search for Elvis. The characters bounce (sometimes literally) from place to place, but there is little apparent structure to the meandering antics of various aliens and the constant activity of the humans. Two-thirds of the way through, the author circles back to the story’s opening and draws a parallel to a mystery-themed TV show the kids had been watching when they began their adventure, and readers can finally play along. Hale’s writing here has the voice of a particularly wacky dad’s serial bedtime story. Not much seems to be well thought out, and many of the jokes are dated puns that the target audience will need help to decipher, despite the provided plot-device explanations.