History Creator / DanielPinkwater

* NotTheNessie: Yobgorgle is a cryptid that lives in a lake, and people say isn't real, but has a following of people hunt for it. Ambrose McFwain sells Yobgorgle dolls that look much like Nessie supposedly does, as some sort of pleisiosaur.

* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Robert is shown to be more intelligent than many people around him, and later on in high school devotes himself to mastering chess as his primary occupation (as opposed to schoolwork).
* SkippingSchool: One day, Robert just doesn't get off the bus to go to school, and never comes back, instead spending his time exploring Chicago.

[[folder: ''The Education of Robert Nifkin'']]

[[folder: ''Magic Moscow'' Trilogy]]

* MultiethnicName: Grandpa's friend Milton X. Mohammadstein, which combines Jewish/German and Muslim/Arabic roots in a single surname.

* ''Literature/LizardMusic'': An adolescent boy is left unattended at home after his parents and siter leave on trips. He eventually ventures to a floating island inhabited by lizards with the help of a hobo who keeps a hen in his hat.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

[[folder:''Lizard Music'']]
Eleven-year-old Victor's on his own after his parents go on vacation, leaving him with his mostly absent big sister. He's got a love of midnight bad sci-fi movie hour, but one night, instead of the usual mockable serials from the 50s, he sees a blurry shot of... lizards playing music. Joining up with a black hobo who has a hen on his hat, they set off to get to the source of the broadcasts: an invisible island populated by sentient lizards that's somewhere off the coast near [[CityOfAdventure Hogboro]].
* AliensStealCable: The lizards have learned English from watching human TV broadcasts.
%% * {{Cloudcuckooland}}: Lizard island, explained as a side-effect of the lizards being able to intercept TV signals.
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: The Chicken Man, and all of the lizards, in a strange sort of Zen-like way. It's even lampshaded, and the reason why The Chicken Man decides to stay behind.
* TheCloudcuckoolanderWasRight: The Chicken Man is the only other character (besides the narrator) who knows about the Lizard Music program.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Chicken Man, due to the chicken he carries, an intelligent hen named Claudia.
* IChooseToStay: In the end, [[spoiler:the Chicken Man decides to stay with the Lizards. Victor would like to stay - the lizards are a cool bunch, after all, and their way of television is actually really cool, but the Chicken Man points out he's got his parents, sister, and school to come back to - the Chicken Man's just a hobo who annoys other people.]]
* IHaveManyNames: The Chicken Man gives a different alias every time he shows up. When Victor asks which is his real name, he asks Victor which he likes best. Victor responds, "Charles Swan", and the Chicken Man says to call him Charlie, which Victor does for the rest of the book.
* ParentalAbandonment: The narrator's parents are off to a resort. His older sister's supposed to watch him, but as teens are wont to do, she's busy doing whatever she's doing as well.
* PlanetOfSteves: The group of lizards who welcome Victor and the Chicken Man to the island all have the same name – Reynold. When Victor asks if all the lizards on the island are named Reynold, Reynold says that would be silly and they do have other names, like Helena and Raymond. Victor subsequently meets one lizard named Helena and three named Raymond (who are siblings), but every other lizard he encounters is named Reynold.
* PropheciesAreAlwaysRight: Reynold tells Victor that one of the reasons they're so hospitable is that they have an ancient prophecy that one day a visitor to the island will bring about a new era of prosperity. Sure enough, it comes true during Victor's visit [[spoiler:thanks to Claudia]].
* PunnyNames: One scene gives a lizard's-eye view of human history complete with a hurricane of reptilian puns, from Salamander Grahame Bell to Queen Elizardbeth.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Discussed. The lizards on the island are completely mellow (thanks to television waves), but the narrator is wary of going to the island at first, because of this trope.
* ShoutOut:
** Many of the Chicken Man's aliases are artists, including Vincent Van Gogh and Pieter Brueghel.
** The late-night movies Victor watches include NoCelebritiesWereHarmed versions of ''Film/IslandOfLostSouls'' and ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers''.
** Apart from the Lizard Music program, the lizards' TV shows include a quiz show modeled on ''Series/YouBetYourLife''.
* ThoughtAversionFailure: Before showing Victor the Hall of Memories, which gives form to the thoughts of whoever enters, Reynold advises Victor not to think about snakes. This advice is about as helpful as you might expect.
* TravelingLandmass: The lizards' island moves around, and is sometimes closer to shore and sometimes farther out, which is one reason it's so difficult to find.
* TurtlePower: In the end, Victor leaves the island via having his surfboard carried on a turtle back to Hogboro shore.
[[/folder]]

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The Wild Dada Ducks perform a play called ''Chickens from Uranus''.