Can underachiever Doug Underbelly save his school's Springtime in Paris dance from a thorough sliming by giant slugs? Should he?Reflecting with superfluous (nigh on monotonous) regularity that his life is weird, Doug not only finds himself still stuck being King of the Mole People (2019) who dwell beneath the spooky old house he shares with his single dad, but somehow put in charge of the dance committee along with drooly, burned-out teacher Miss Chips. The latter gig rapidly devolves into a slippery slope-both literally, after an army of subterranean Slug People in search of eggs stolen by a pretentious STEM-winding bully convert the school's gymnasium to a "gym-nausium," and figuratively, as Doug winds up at the end in a slow dance with "licorice-haired, ping-pong–eyed" sidekick Magda. Fortunately, Doug can enlist not only eager Mole People, but slime- (and ice cream–) eating Mushroom Folk to help with a rapid cleanup. Along with plenty of muck and ooey-gooey characters with monikers like "Hurrk" and "Burf" ("Your names all really do sound like bodily function sounds," comments Doug with characteristic lack of forethought), Gilligan plugs in plenty of Wimpy Kid–style ink-and-fill drawings with punchlines and wordless reaction shots. The human figures are all paper white in the illustrations and, from clueless adults to cliquey students, typecast.Labored but successful effort to echo the opener's low-bar appeal. (Fantasy. 7-12)

Gr 4-7 Doug Underbelly has officially resigned as King of the Mole People, and is trying to concentrate on getting his creepy house (situated in a graveyard, next to a stream filled with eels) spruced up enough so he and his dad can sell it and move somewhere normal. But that's way too much work for one person, so Doug becomes "king" again in order to commandeer some helpjust in time to be held responsible for the kidnapping of a giant Bull Slug egg, the failure of the class field trip, and the sliming of the school dance. It's only when Doug faces his fears and realizes that going through an ordeal (even with someone as strange as his next-door-neighbor Magda) can strengthen a relationship, that he figures out a way to get the Slugs to work together, as well as a way to get out of being King of the Slug People too. Gilligan, author of the comic strip Pooch Café , continues the tale of Doug's life in the vortex of weirdness with the same sly humor and quirky illustrations found in the first volume. With a bit of hand-selling, these stories will be perfect for kids looking for a little variation on the Greg Heffley theme. VERDICT Funny stories are hard to find, so purchase both books in the series where humorous fiction is in demand. Elizabeth Friend, Wester M.S., TX