Expiration Date: Never [Hardcover]

Stephanie Spinner (Author), Terry Bisson (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Once again Gemini Jack is in his shop at the Middle Valley Mall, offering out-of-this-world gadgets for rent. And once again he’s hoping twins Tod and Tessa can help him with problems on his home planet. But Tod and Tessa have problems of their own. The Gneiss twins, who were once so evil they scared their own mother, are now sickeningly nice. Worse, they’ve decided that Tod and Tessa are their best friends. It’s as if the entire balance of the universe has gone kablooey! Then there’s Nigel Throbber, a great rock drummer in his time–a long, long time ago. Using one of Jack’s unearthly gadgets, Tod and Tessa help Nigel escape from his fame temporarily–only to learn that the effects are permanent! Once they restore Nigel’s celebrity, all they have to do is save Jack’s planet and convince Nancy Gneiss that she doesn’t really have a crush on Tod–which makes restoring the balance of the universe look like a total breeze.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-This sequel to Be First in the Universe (Delacorte, 2000) reunites twins Tessa and Tod with Gemini Jack, who has a store at the mall and once again needs their help to save his planet from the invading Vorons. Previously, the twins had been instrumental in preserving the safety of that faraway land by stealing DNA from the nasty Gneiss twins and injecting the residents of Gemini so that they will fight back. In turn, some niceness was injected into the Gneiss siblings, making them sickeningly sweet. At the mall, Tessa and Todd meet rock drummer Nigel Throbber, who claims to hate his fawning fans so Jack sprays him with "Fame Ban," which lasts for 15 minutes. However, it turns out that the wrong spray was used; this one has an expiration date of never. Now, no one recognizes him and he is horribly depressed. In the end, Nigel lands on Gemini, which holds the only antidote to the spray, the Gneiss twins are reinjected with their own DNA, and balance is restored. The characters are zany, yet believable; real, yet surreal. This is a fitting follow-up to the first book. Purchase where it is popular.
Kay Bowes, Concord Pike Library, Wilmington, DE
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-6. A daft and deft mixture of mall culture, sf tropes, and flower-child references bedazzle in this sequel to Be the First in the Universe (2000). Twins Tessa and Tod live on a farm with their grandparents Lou and Lulu, who met at Woodstock. When we last tuned in, the twins had saved the home planet of Gemini Jack, an alien vendor at the mall whose shop shimmers into and out of existence. This time, Tod and Tessa are befuddled by the newly nice nature of the Gneiss twins and by the nastiness of Grandpa's prize goats, Twist and Shout. When aging rock star Nigel Throbber appears at the mall, Tessa and Tod engineer his escape from the fans by taking him into Gemini Jack's and having him sprayed with Jack's Fame Ban. Goats, formerly evil twins, celebrity joshing, and further difficulties at Jack's home planet are all resolved in a side-splitting finale. For those looking for something out of this world. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; 1St Edition edition (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385326904
• ISBN-13: 978-0385326902
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,796,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)