Twenty-five years ago, Mary Stolz introduced a...

Twenty-five years ago, Mary Stolz introduced a lonely, misunderstood boy in “A Dog on Barkham Street.” Martin Hastings was 11 years old and the neighborhood’s No. 1 rotten kid, who later got to tell his side of the story in “The Bully of Barkham Street,” published in 1963.

Now 23 years later, Martin makes a triumphant return, having, thank goodness, only aged to 13. He is a colossal daydreamer, partly to escape a sterile family life, but he’s also fat, clumsy and lonelier than ever since his dog Rufus was confiscated for bad behavior.

Ms. Stolz’s style is crisper than in her other two books and the chapters shorter, which seems to speed the reader right along. Through Martin’s fantasizing, we take side trips to Antarctica with Adm. Peary and learn neat details, such as how the explorer lost eight frostbitten toes and that when young, he too was a miscreant. But most of all, we watch with great pleasure how an insecure boy makes peace with himself and turns suspicious neighbors into friends. When he discovers he’s a dynamite baby sitter and that his passion for books can actually be an asset, his confidence soars. Others begin to see him as the special kid he is, appearances for once shoved aside. Ms. Stolz handles this lesson with humor and an obvious respect for youngsters aching to grow up.

Her gift for remembered emotions is evident here as it is in “The Edge of Next Year,” which was nominated for the National Book Award in 1975, and in her many stories to be named ALA Notable Children’s Books. This Barkham Street episode stands alone and will surely entice readers to Martin’s earlier adventures. Emily Arnold McCully’s pen-and-ink drawings are a pleasant accompaniment, although--this is a minor complaint--she shows Martin quite a bit thinner than the way he describes himself.