Billy Clikk: Creatch Battler

Billy Clikk: Creatch Battler by Mark Crilley, 2004

Crilley is the author of the very popular Akiko series. This book is the first volume in a series designed to appeal to boys. Billy is a young lad who enjoys extreme sports of all kinds. His parents are called away at odd times because of their Bugs-B-Gone extermination business so he spends a great deal of time home, alone. While channel flipping one evening he is shocked to see his parents on TV in a news story from the Philippines. His parents are not really the mild mannered bug exterminators he thought they were and his pet dog is not really a dog.

He discovers that the real family business is protecting humanity from monsters called creatches. The work is dangerous and exciting and Billy wants to join in. His extreme sports experience will come in handy.

The book is 245 pages but has very wide margins and many comic style illustrations throughout the story. The monsters have gross-out appeal though not the "subtle" humor of Captain Underpants. This is light stuff. Checking for kids' reactions at Amazon (though they usually smack of "my teacher made me do this") I found the Amazon kid reviews were very favorable.

I gave it to a 5th grade friend last night. I am interested to see if he will want to read more in the series.

Mark Crilley's website