'I Was a Teenage Bigfoot' is set, according to the author's introduction, at about the same time as The Dresden Files book seven, Dead Beat. It comes after 'B is For Bigfoot', in case you're not reading it in the series' second short story collection, Brief Cases.

The story starts out back in the north woods of Wisconsin, where Harry met River Shoulders before. This time Harry is accompanying a bunch of Bigfoot searchers (Dr. Sinor owns him her life). Harry's thoughts about their methods made me laugh aloud, as did his trick to make sure his conversation with Bigfoot stayed private.

The problem is again with Irwin, River Shoulder's son by archaeologist Dr. Helena Pounder. Irwin, now fourteen, is sick. His mother is working in British Columbia, Canada. She faxes power of attorney to the school so Harry can investigate, because River Shoulders' people do not get sick. (There's an amusing bit about Gilbert and Sullivan in the conversation.)

Dr. Fabio, dean of St. Mark's Academy for the Gifted and Talented boarding school, looks nothing like romance novel cover model Fabio, but Harry manages not to laugh. Dr. Fabio stonewalls Harry about seeing Irwin in the school's infirmary, but Harry talks him into it.

Irwin is being looked after by a very competent and snarky nurse practitioner named Jen Gerard. She is already suspicious because Irwin isn't following the normal course of his illness and Dr. Fabio won't allow blood to be drawn and tested. Harry finds a way to get Nurse Jen out of the room while he does a little magical diagnosing of his own.

I admit I never suspected the reason, but the confrontation was delightful.

NOTES:

1. That bit of Gilbert and Sullivan is from 'I am the Captain of the Pinafore' from 'HMS Pinafore'.

2. Yakko and Wakko Warner are two of the main characters from the 1993-1998 cartoon series 'Animaniacs,' which I recommend checking out.

3. In this case 'flying monkeys' is slang for persons sent against someone by the person whom that someone will not deal with directly. For example, if you've gone 'No Contact' with your toxic mother and she persuades her friends or your relatives to nag you to do what your mother wants, they're her flying monkeys. (You may recall the Wicked Witch of the West using flying monkeys against Dorothy and her companions in both Frank L. Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the 1939 'The Wizard of Oz' film.)

4. A nurse practitioner is a registered nurse with even more education and training. NPs are allowed to prescribe medicines, for example.

5. Bruce Lee was a very famous actor and martial arts practitioner. I first watched him as 'Kato' on 'The Green Hornet' TV show in 1966. ( )