The Annoyance bureau
The Annoyance Bureau ©2002
"Lucas, 12, visits his dad and step-family in New York City over the Christmas holiday and gets involved with a strange Santa who works for the Annoyance Bureau. He becomes somewhat of an authority on annoyances (he shares a bathroom with a horridly critical stepsister and is at the mercy of an abominable baby-sitter.) He discovers that the agency has, itself, begun to generate annoyances -- the very thing it was designed to control. Will Lucas, with the help of an 'irkostat', survive the most annoying holiday season ever? Readers will have a terrific time finding out as they follow the funny twists in this original and good-humored novel." --School Library Journal
"Dorky haircuts, sadistic stepsisters, department store Muzak, cigars: does indignity know no limits? During Christmas week in Manhattan, 12-year-old Lucas discovers a mysterious stranger charged with the mission of eliminating life's little irritants." --Smithsonian Notable Books for Children 2002
"Dorky haircuts, sadistic stepsisters, department store Muzak, cigars: does indignity know no limits? During Christmas week in Manhattan, 12-year-old Lucas discovers a mysterious stranger charged with the mission of eliminating life's little irritants." --Smithsonian Notable Books for Children 2002