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. This might possibly appeal to readers who are weather-focused. The weather is nicely evoked and fully believable the trite plot stretches credibility to the breaking point. The action ramps up nicely toward a conclusion that, disappointingly, leaves nearly all the conflict unresolved, presumably setting up the next in the series.
Default-white cardboard characters who seem to lack any real reason for their behavior move enigmatically through the storm-wracked landscape. Meanwhile, Helicity, in spite of her age, is implausibly invited to spend the summer storm chasing with Lana and Sam. Andy quickly (and predictably) becomes addicted to the pain meds that his ridiculously angry father helps provide. The weather isn’t the only thing that’s extreme in this book. Lana has a cute 17-year-old male sidekick named Sam, who too often lets his enthusiasm carry him into danger, breaking Lana’s safety rules. Helicity, fascinated by weather, attracts the interest of a young female meteorology professor and storm chaser, Lana. He’s injured, possibly ending a promising football career and leaving their father raging about his potential loss of a scholarship. Caught up in filming it, she barely escapes, but her older brother, Andy, out looking for her as the storm strikes, is less fortunate.
Thirteen-year-old Helicity (a physics term that means “to spin”) finds herself on the fringe of a devastating tornado that sweeps through her town. ABC News meteorologist Zee embellishes her debut novel with plenty of accurate weather information.
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