Chuggie and the Fish Freaks of Farheath by Brent Michael Kelley

I would guess that Kelley wrote this after Chuggie and the Desecration of Stagwater. It seems to me that he's come to grips in a major way with what makes the Chuggie character work, and this mastery came after spending an entire novel figuring everything out. Chuggie, the drunken, cocky embodiment of drought, comes off as fully formed here, perfectly related in short order, and I don't really think this has much to do with me having read Stagwater first. I think Chuggie's voice is second-nature to Kelley now, and he's just having a lot of fun.

This was a fine short piece with wonderful illustrations (by the author?). I really like an illustrated book.

Read this book!