[Mrs. Fish, Ape, and Me, the Dump Queen] is told from the point of view of Joyce, orphaned ward of her uncle Ape Man, the town trash collector. Mocked and ostracized by other children for her association with rubbish …, she lives a sheltered routine with her surly, diamond-in-the-rough guardian…. But when the sturdy isolationist has a stroke, the girl enlists the aid of fat Mrs. Fish, the cleaning lady at school…. In the ailing giant's rude behavior, the lonely custodian sees buried gallantry…. The trio become an odd family in the end and the young heroine … is finally able to share her Swiss cheese sandwich with a new friend. The tone here is self-conscious and contrived. People fly into rages, sing manic songs, do dances, and fling taunts for no visible reason. And a tedious series of lists, e.g., the contents ad infinitum of the junkyard, substitutes...