87. Didi Dodo Future Spy: Double-O Dodo

Double-O Dodo (Didi Dodo, Future Spy #3) Tom Angleberger. 2021. 128 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: My phone rang. “Hello, this is Koko Dodo’s Cookie Shop,” I said. “Koko Dodo speaking! Would you like to hear about today’s special cookie?” “KOKO!” quacked the phone. “THIS IS THE QUEEN!”

Premise/plot: Double-O Dodo is the third and final book in the Didi Dodo Future Spy series by Tom Angleberger. In this adventure, Koko and Didi team up once again to solve a problem. This time the QUEEN has been kidnapped...and not just kidnapped...but kidnapped by a mythical being...a HUMAN. Can Didi, Koko, and 3 chicks working as a team find the kidnapper and rescue the queen???

My thoughts: My sister told me this was the best book in the series. I was skeptical. I really loved the first two books. How could this one be even better or even greater? But I did laugh harder at this third book. I think adults may laugh harder than children? Maybe. You see the setting of this one is at an AMUSEMENT PARK. And Koko, Didi, and the three chicks (plus a lost baby zebra) are pretending to be a "real" family in order to blend in. The setting of the amusement park + the family dynamics just makes for a hilarious read.

Quotes:

“Are there any clues?” asked Didi.
“Only one,” I said. “The kidnapper was a human!”
“That’s ridiculous!” said three of my customers, a unicorn, a dragon, and a tree that grows dollar bills. “Humans don’t exist!”
“That’s what I tried to tell the Queen,” I said. “Oh, Didi, what are we going to do?”
“Why are you asking her?” asked the tree that grows dollar bills.
“She’s Didi Dodo, Future Spy,” I said. “She can do almost anything!”

“Do you see a human?!” yelled Didi Dodo.
“No!” I yelled back. “Do you?” “I have my eyes closed!” she yelled back.
“What are you telling me about closed eyes?” I screamed. “How can you steer with your eyes closed?”
“I can’t steer with them closed!” she yelled back. “But I can’t steer with them open, either. There’s no way to steer rocket pants!”
“UH-OH,” said the baby chicks.
“This plan was TOO DARING!” I yelled. “If you can’t steer, we’re going to run right into that statue!”
“What is it a statue of?”
“Johann Sebastian Bach,” said the first baby chick.
“No, that’s Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,” said the second baby chick.
“I’m pretty sure it’s Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky,” said the third baby chick.
WHAM!
We smashed right into a statue of Ludwig van Beethoven.

“OK, birds,” said the wolf. “Tickets to Humanland cost $139.95 . . . each! Pay up!”

We’ll never find the Queen if we zoom around in rocket pants all day. We’ve got to sneak around. So we’ll go undercover as parents with four adorable children.”

“Who are the adorable children?” asked the three baby chicks and the baby zebra.

“You are, of course,” said Didi.

“WE’RE HUNGWEE!” yelled the first baby chick.

“BUY US STUFF!” screamed the second baby chick.

“WE WANT FOOD ON A STICK!” shrieked the third baby chick.

“AN WE WUNT IT NOW!” hollered the baby zebra.

“Remember your manners, children,” said Didi in a motherly voice. “How do you ask nicely?”

Oh my stars! Do you know how much corn dogs cost at the park? Nine dollars! And an extra dollar for the stick.
And there was a huge, long line. And the line was full of moms, dads, and kids, just like we were pretending to be.
“You were right, Didi,” I said. “These are great disguises.”
“Thanks,” said Didi. “But my sneaky plan isn’t working. We haven’t found the Queen or the mommy. And it’s impossible to tell who is in that Elvis costume.”

She pointed at a booth that had a big sign that said: Red Gloop with extra sugar $8
“YAY!”
“ME FIRST!”
“NO! ME FIRST!”
“WAHHH!”
“Do you want that in the special collector’s cup?” asked the fox who was selling the red gloop.
“YES!” yelled the zebra and the chicks.
“And do you want extra extra sugar?”
“YES!” yelled the zebra and the chicks.
“How about extra red color?”
“YES!” yelled the zebra and the chicks.

We saw a stand called Now Ear This. A lion was selling hats with foam human ears.
“Can I get that?” asked the first baby chick.
“No, you’d only wear it once and then it would just take up space,” said Didi.
“WAH!” cried the first baby chick.
Then we saw a cart where a cougar was using an airbrush to paint a picture of Leonardo da Vinci on a T-shirt.
Can I get that?” asked the second baby chick.
“No, you already have one at home and you never wear it,” said Didi.
“WAH!” cried the second baby chick.
Then we passed a tiger with a big bunch of balloons shaped like US presidents.
“Can I get an Eisenhower balloon?” asked the third baby chick.
“No, you’d let it go and then it would float away and you’d make a big fuss.”
“Probably true,” muttered the third baby chick.
Then we passed a gift shop where two bobcats were stacking drinking glasses that said “Humanland 1987!”
“Can I git zat?” asked the baby zebra.
“No, you’d only break it,” said Didi. 

Children!” yelled Didi. “Do you want to spend the rest of the day in time-out?”
Everybody glared at everybody.
I groaned.
“We’ve made a huge mess! We’ve spent all our money! And we’re all miserable and mad at each other!” I yelled. “This is terrible!”
“No, it’s perfect!” said Didi. “Just like a real family!”

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers