George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series.

The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”).

Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment. Set in two coastal English towns and the woods between them, this pleasantly earnest series will appeal especially to fans of golden dragons and human-animal bonding. Like last time, Golding ends this installment with closure rather than suspense, though Kullervo will clearly be back soon. A local political clash (an oil refinery wants a road built through an ancient forest) blends with the Kullervo battle, involving eco-activists and townspeople oblivious to the mythical creatures in their midst. Kullervo seeks to destroy humankind, but Golding adds a level of complexity through Kullervo’s claim that humans deserve annihilation for polluting the earth. When strict relatives whisk Connie away to another town, forbidding contact with the secret Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures, evil shapeshifter Kullervo kidnaps Col to lure Connie into danger. Connie’s a “universal” companion to all creatures inaccurately considered fictional (selkies, wood sprites, etc.) her friend Col is companion to pegasi. Epic in structure but gentle in vibe, this series about mythical creatures now shifts from one primary perspective to two.

The Gorgon's Gaze by Julia Golding