First: very easy comparison to Jerry Spinelli's Crash, in re: a bully who doesn't entirely realize he's a bully, or what consequences his actions have on his usual target.

Second: strong science fiction that isn't (exactly) speculative--this is grounded in actual science. Or at least it seems like it is, anyway; I'm no mycologist myself.

Third: there's so much going on here that could overshadow parts of the plot, but it all works in perfect balance: Eric's parents are headed for divorce and it's obvious right from the beginning, but there's no hand-wringing will-they-won't-they. When they finally admit that they're calling it quits, Eric's reaction is more of relief than surprise. There's the missing girl, whose whole story we never get--and while I'm curious about it, this isn't her story. There's Eric himself, the tough-guy football player who's actually quite squeamish and easily rattled.

And there's a mushroom plague overtaking the whole town.

I'll be working up a booktalk for this one for the spring or fall, depending when I'm next yabbering at sixth-graders. ( )

When a giant glowing fungus encroaches upon thirteen-year-old Eric's small town, he, his little brother Brian, and a runaway girl try to stop it--and figure out what happened to the Puritan town that had mysteriously disappeared from the same spot. ( )