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Leroy Ninker, the diminutive aspiring cowboy last seen trying to steal a toaster from the Watson household in Mercy Watson Fights Crime (2006), gets his own starring vehicle in this kickoff to a spinoff series, Tales from Deckawoo Drive, featuring characters from DiCamillo's books about the toast-loving pig Mercy. His thieving days behind him, Leroy works concessions at the Bijou Drive-In Theater and wishes he could ride into the sunset like the cowboys in Wednesday night's Western double feature. Leroy's boots, hat, and lasso can only take him so far he needs a horse. His coworker Beatrice points him in the right direction, and Leroy finds his steed in a well-traveled horse named Maybelline. DiCamillo effortlessly slips back into the comfortable rhythms of Mercy's world, infusing every chapter with subdued wit, warmth, and heart. Van Dusen matches the text stride-for-stride, delivering caricatured spot art and full-page scenes of the Pinocchioesque Leroy and the four-toothed, spaghetti-loving Maybelline, who Leroy comes to consider "the most splendiferous horse in all of creation." Ages 6 9.
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