Otto Pillip, kid racecar driver, wordplay enthusiast, and undercover agent – is ready for his next mission. Prune Man, a villain who really does resemble dried fruit, has an evil plan to hold the world's water supply hostage in outer space. With Racecar in disguise as a shoe–shine truck, and his aunts cloaked as shoe–shining uncles, Otto is on the job!

Water Balloon Doom continues the story of Otto and Racecar in this action–filled adventure.

Otto Undercover #3: Water Balloon Doom

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Otto was behind the wheel, in starting position for the Fleabag 500. The race was named after the stadium owner's dog, who was in the book of Guinness World Records for continually scratching himself every second for the last 14 years.

Otto's lucky guitar was on the seat next to him.

The despicable Wilson Carlson Fullsom was in position right beside Otto, in car 56.

"Hey Pullup, swell banjo," he said. "Let me get a look at it."

"Sure," said Otto. That was the nicest thing Fullsom had ever said to him, even if he did get a few facts wrong, like his name, but at least he had used a palindrome. Otto held up the guitar.

"It's a guitar," said Otto.

Fullsom had a raw egg. He threw it. Luckily, Otto had enclosed the guitar in a superhard clear, elastic case. Things just bounced off of it. The egg boomeranged back, smashed on Fullsom's helmet, and ran down his face.

Just then an airplane looped across the sky, leaving a trail of sky writing. It said A Clifford Won. Otto always kept his eye out for his next assignment. He knew there was no one named A Clifford in the race. This was an anagrammed message for him. He had to go.

"Catch you next time, Foulsome," said Otto. "Car trouble." He pulled a lever, and smoke poured out from a smoke machine under Racecar's hood. Otto disqualified himself and left the track.

Wilson Carlson Fullsom couldn't believe his luck. Without Racecar in the race, he had a pretty good chance of winning.

He got out of his car and started yelling at Otto, "Look at that broken-down hunk of tin. What a loser. Where're ya goin', loser? Afraid of A Clifford? Look at the chicken."

Fullsom was still flapping his arms and making idiotic chicken noises when the starting flag went down. All the other cars whizzed by, leaving him in the dust.

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Excerpted from Otto Undercover #3: Water Balloon Doom by Rhea Perlman Copyright © 2006 by Rhea Perlman. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Gr 3-5 Otto Pillip, eight-year-old inventor/secret agent, is back to defeat yet another wacky villain. Prune Man is out to steal the world's water supply by holding the Earth's oceans hostage in a giant water balloon and threatening to blast them all into outer space. He kidnaps Otto to use as an unwilling accomplice. The over-the-top humor becomes as tedious and repellent as Prune Man. There are too many gags, too many palindromes and anagrams, and too many chapters (4 introductions, 43 chapters, 3 epilogues). The black-and-white cartoons on every page, while appealing in a sketchy comic-book fashion, can't carry the story alone. H. H. Henderson, Heritage Middle School, Deltona, FL