ONE JOHN A. TOO MANY Richard Wright. Scarborough (ON), Nelson, c1984. 93pp, paper, $3.25. ISBN 0-17-602087-X. Grades 3-5. Reviewed by Enid Dorward. Volume 12 Number 5 1984 September John A. Macdonald was going to visit the little town of Harmony on its 125th birthday. The real John A. had been there 125 years earlier when Harmony became a town, so it planned to have a return visit, complete with an old CPR train for him to travel in. Ten-year-old Andrew Tolliver and his friends were really more excited about a circus that was to be in Harmony around the same time, but they were still involved in the preparations for the town's birthday celebration. Unfortunately, thieves, who were travelling with the circus and planning to rob a bank, decided that using a John A. Macdonald costume would make their job easier. Andrew accidentally discovered that they had the costume, so when the bank was robbed by John A. Macdonald, he knew it was really a thief and not a local person trying to play a joke on the bank manager. Because of this knowledge, the thieves took Andrew with them when they completed the robbery. They all ended up on the old CPR train when it was leaving Harmony, including the man who was really playing the part of John A. Macdonald for the celebration! Andrew pulled the cord to stop the train, and the thieves were arrested. This story will appeal to youngsters who enjoy plenty of action, and it does have a satisfying ending in which the young boy is a hero and the bad guys are suitably punished. The first-person narrative sounds convincingly like the way a ten-year-old would talk. Bound in an adult-looking paperback format, this action-filled story might even appeal to slightly older children, particularly boys, who are reluctant readers. Recommended. Enid Dorward, Winnipeg, MB.