Lizard Music by Daniel Pinkwater: Another male protagonist. Nice to see that more and more are showing up these days. A teenage boy gets left at home for a few weeks and has some adventures. Well written and a good voice but it didn’t capture me so it gets a hesitating Next!

Interesting semi-feminist critic "Another male protagonist". I don't think any strong female character popped into Pinkwater until Rat in Snarkout Boys.
I'm aware of the "NEXT!" line (have used it all the time), but I'm fascinated by the "hesitating" qualifier.

Generally my search for "pinkwater" lends to some inappropriateness, but I do find stories like this amusing:
Police Investiage, find it's just Pink Water... not meth or human fluid... just mysterious pink water.
The Pink, I will add, is for Pinkwater.