Paul Jennings is not yet the household name in North America that he is in his native Australia. However, if the reaction of reviewers and readers on this side of the globe is any indication, it seems only a matter of time until that changes. His imaginative, off-beat tales for pre-teen readers, which have been likened to the best-selling Goosebumps stories of R. L. Stine, are phenomenally popular Down Under. In fact, Jennings receives so much fan mail from young readers--about 5,000 letters per year--that he employs two secretaries to help him keep up with replies. Writing in a 1995 article for Australian Way magazine, freelance journalist Terry Lane aptly described Jennings as "a one-man industry." Indeed, he is nothing if not prolific. Jennings has written a succession of critically acclaimed bestsellers since 1989, the year that he quit his job as a special education teacher to become a full-time writer...