Kids into books: The Gizmo

The Gizmo
Author: Paul Jennings

Publisher: Puffin books $10.95

Illustrator: Keith McEwan

Age group: 8-13 years


I feel like a worm. A worm of toothpaste that has been squeezed out of the tube and can't get back in.

"What did you get?" says Floggit. He stares at my stolen loot. "That belongs to me," he says. "I get to keep it for teaching you how to flog."

"You can have it," I say sadly. "I don't want it."

"Push the ON button," says Floggit. He does not seem quite so keen to take the gizmo now. Maybe he is scared of it.

"We don't know what it does," I say.

"Yeah," says Floggit. "You'd better go back and pinch the instructions."

A shadow falls over us. We both look up. A security guard is staring down. He wears a blue uniform. He is looking straight at us. "Hey, you two..." he says.

Quick as a flash, Floggit jumps up and throws the stolen spanner onto my lap. "Here's your spanner back," he says to me in a loud voice.