Middle-schooler Charlie Pennypacker is thrilled his family is going on a real Caribbean cruise for vacation instead of taking their usual pretend one in their backyard. But he and his bratty six-year-old sister, Olive, soon realize that their cheapskate father booked them on a knock-off Disney cruise instead of the real thing. Even worse, Charlie's ex-best friend and next-door neighbor, half-Korean Gunter Hwang, shows up: Charlie's father is being paid to bring him along. Charlie and Gunter one-up each other as they realize two threatening black-suited men are following the ship from port-to-port. This illustrated mystery-adventure features wacky characters, deceptions, and lots of madcap situations, many involving pain-in-the neck Olive, whose favorite saying, frighteningly, is "I will cook you like a French fry." Secondary characters are mere caricatures compared to the main ones, and the plot is a bit thin, but Charlie and Gunter's efforts to uncover the mystery are thoroughly enjoyable.

A young boy vacations on a boat full of misfits.Growing up with a miserly father, Charlie Pennypacker has never taken a real vacation outside the staged ones in their backyard. Over time this embarrassment cost him his best friend, Gunter, who exposed his fake vacations to his classmates. After his profligate lawyer mom demands a real family trip, his father surprisingly complies, booking a Disney cruise in the Caribbean. But when they arrive it turns out not to be Disney but a "Wisney Cruise," a worn-down fishing boat staffed by a less-than-enthusiastic staff. To Charlie's chagrin, Gunter also appears. It turns out Charlie's dad agreed to babysit Gunter for $30 a day. Just when it seems things can't get worse, Charlie and Gunter witness ship's captain Wisner narrowly escaping two men in black suits who threaten they'll catch up to him eventually. Suspecting the mob, the former friends temporarily set aside their differences to find out Wisner's troubles. Doan sets up a promising adventure with plenty of extreme personalities and outlandish situations. Unfortunately each player ends up defined by their quirks, disallowing any growth or a chance for readers to enjoy the humor in the situation. Charlie, his family, and the captain are illustrated as white while Gunter is biracial, with a Korean dad and (default-white) German mom.A misadventure that misses the boat. (Fiction. 9-12)