When David must leave school to recover from a severe illness, his unconventional Aunt Annie volunteers to tend to him, yet fearing the worse, David is completely surprised by her when they meet and soon comes to realize that he now knows with whom he can share his dreams and thoughts. Eleven-year-old David nearly died of pneumonia. ("New Monia," as his Aunt Rosie called it with her heavy British accent, not unlike the "Spanish Influenzo.") But all that bed rest would have been worth it if it meant he could escape Rittenhouse Academy and continue on among the rogues' gallery of eccentric friends and relatives that passes through his family's Philadelphia home. David (also known as "Bax," "Skeezix," "Skinamalink," Snicklefritz," and "First Sergeant," depending on which grownup is doing the addressing) decides that he'd be more than happy to wile away his days with some fresh air and "mild exercise," as prescribed by Dr. McKelvie (who, incidentally, calls David "laddie-buck"). But mild exercise turns out to include more than lounging around reading books about pirates, sneaking into theaters to see "the new films that actually talk" (this being right before the Depression), and writing up clever cartoons about the "Sea-Fox," the devilishly devious scourge of the Spanish Main. No, David is to have a tutor. (A "tooter," says Aunt Rosie, to keep him from becoming an "ignoramiss.") And it could be a worse fate than David ever imagined, maybe even worse than Rittenhouse: his stern, elderly Aunt Annie volunteers for the job. "In a tone that made me think of the Almighty commanding Abraham to sacrifice young Isaac, she said: 'Give me the boy.'" But this horrible old Gorgon (Aunt Rosie translation: "Gawgon") proves to be David's perfect foil, an ingenious mentor who so impresses David--whom she takes to simply calling "The Boy" after she learns about her nickname--that she begins to co-star in his time-hopping, globe-trotting adventure stories. The Gawgon and the Boy offers excellent period details, hysterical dialogue, and convincingly funny and authentic 11-year-old imaginings from Newbery Medal and National Book Award winner Lloyd Alexander. (Ages 10 and older) --Paul Hughes Gr 5-7-In a change of pace from his usual fantasies, Alexander has written a funny, clever novel that's part family story, part portrait of a developing artist and writer. David is happy that his bout with pneumonia will keep him out of school for several months, until his family decides he must be tutored by his elderly Aunt Annie. As the 11-year-old has already discerned, she cannot be bamboozled, and he may have to work instead of continuing with his favorite pastimes of drawing and making up heroic tales starring himself. Aunt Annie turns out to be an excellent teacher, though, and David's newfound knowledge of Napoleon, da Vinci, Sherlock Holmes, and Shakespeare provide ever more raw material for his active imagination. David's first-person narration of his daily life is interspersed with his creative epics, which eventually begin to feature Aunt Annie, nicknamed The Gawgon, along with himself, The Boy. Effective humor in both the real and the invented parts of the protagonist's life, well-drawn secondary characters, and clever segues from David's lessons with his aunt to his latest tales are among the story's many strengths. Descriptions of life in late 1920's Philadelphia give the sense of memoir, while the samples of David's early work leave no doubt he will someday become, like Alexander himself, an artist and storyteller.-Beth Wright, Fletcher Free Library, Burlington, VT Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Gr. 5-7. Recuperating from a bout of the New Monia (pneumonia), 11-year-old David is deemed too frail to return to school. Instead, he will be tutored by his elderly aunt Annie, whom he dubs the "Gawgon" (a mispronunciation of "gorgon") because of her forbidding appearance. An unconventional teacher and free spirit, the Gawgon encourages David to pursue his dream of becoming an artist and, in the process, wins his heart and fires his creative spirit. Indeed, David's memories of life in Philadelphia in the late 1920s are interspersed with many imagined adventures in which he and the Gawgon encounter the likes of Napoleon (Bones-Apart), Sherlock Holmes, and Leonardo da Vinci. This story seems to be as much memoir as novel, with a slightly old-fashioned feel. But it's charming and gracefully written, proving that in Alexander's talented hands, the past can be a thoroughly delightful place to visit. Michael Cart Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Lloyd Alexander is the undisputed master of high fantasy and has won nearly every major award for children's authors.