Kids into books: The Gizmo

The Gizmo

Author: Paul Jennings

Publisher: Puffin books $10.95

Illustrator: Keith McEwan

Age group: 8-13 years


He pats me on the back. "What a hero," he says.

Floggit grins at me. He is glad that I have done what he has done. He is glad that I am a thief like him. We both look at the gizmo which I still hold tight in my hand. It is shaped like a ball with little coloured windows in it. When I look in the windows I can see that it is raining inside. The ball is made of steel and has a button saying ON. But there is no button saying OFF. I have never seen anything that looks like this before. To be honest, it gives me the creeps.

I do not feel like a hero. I am a thief. Two minutes ago I was a normal boy. Just a kid who owned a pet mouse. And a broken bike. With the best Mum and Dad in the world. And now I am a thief. I have stolen something. And I don't even know what it is.


Tomorrow: I feel like a worm