Zack and the Turkey Attack!

Nine-year-old Zack doesn't like being pushed around by an aggressive turkey when he helps out at his grandparents' farm every weekend, but Tailpipe (Zack's name for the creature that was "always right behind you and made as much noise as a tailpipe without a muffler") is disinclined to give up control of the farmyard. Using broken tools and other junk from his grandfather's shed, Zack sets out to build a "turkey-blaster trouble-shooter" that will put Tailpipe in his place for good. When Zack's first attempts fail, he reluctantly accepts help from his grandparents' young neighbor Josie, who has her own methods of dealing with Tailpipe. Zack's friend Matthew also gets roped in, and as they experiment with noisemakers, water balloons, and leftover rain gutters, the turkey-blaster takes on Rube Goldberg-level proportions. Zack is an engaging hero, and Josie and Matthew are well-rounded secondary characters. The story is a fairly simple one, with a low-stakes conflict; a subplot about a suspected theft, which the children investigate on the side, adds some mystery. Young readers will enjoy Zack's eventual triumph over a manageable challenge. sarah rettger