Hand-lettered on lined paper like Moss’ hugely popular Amelia’s Notebook (1995) and its sequels, this series is likely to...
On her first day of fourth grade, Daphne starts a diary that quickly becomes one of doodles and disasters and sets up a new series by the creator of Amelia.
In this series opener, her teacher, Ms. Underwood, mispronounces her name when calling the roll, so that classmates—except best friend Kaylee—are calling her Daffy. The very slim plot involves Daphne's discovery that the name game has happened to others. Her solution is to nickname her teacher, but she realizes that she’s not the first to call her teacher Mrs. Underwear. The first-person narrative includes familiar middle-grade scenes—a trip to the orthodontist and the boredom of watching her younger brothers’ soccer practice—sketches of people and things, even rebuses. In a companion story that publishes simultaneously, The Vampire Dare, her vampire costume turns out to be a disaster, prompting classmates to claim she has cooties. Again Daphne turns the tide by transferring the onus to a cootie-catching old doll. This light reading is made even lighter by the fact that the last quarter of each volume is taken up with extra material: lists and sketches of name disasters in the first and costume disasters in the second.
Hand-lettered on lined paper like Moss’ hugely popular Amelia’s Notebook (1995) and its sequels, this series is likely to appeal to the same middle-grade audience but feels a touch too familiar. (Graphic fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: July 12, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-1738-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
SEEN & HEARD
PERSPECTIVES
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet!
Ryan Hart is navigating the fourth grade and all its challenges with determination.
Her mom named her Ryan because it means “king,” and she wanted Ryan to feel powerful every time she heard her name; Ryan knows it means she is a leader. So when changes occur or disaster strikes, budding chef Ryan does her best to find the positive and “make sunshine.” When her dad is laid off from the post office, the family must make adjustments that include moving into a smaller house, selling their car, and changing how they shop for groceries. But Ryan gets to stay at Vernon Elementary, and her mom still finds a way to get her the ingredients she needs to practice new recipes. Her older brother, Ray, can be bossy, but he finds little ways to support her, especially when she is down—as does the whole family. Each episodic chapter confronts Ryan with a situation; intermittently funny, frustrating, and touching, they should be familiar and accessible to readers, as when Ryan fumbles her Easter speech despite careful practice. Ryan, her family, and friends are Black, and Watson continues to bring visibility to both Portland, Oregon, generally and its Black community specifically, making another wonderful contribution that allows Black readers to see themselves and all readers to find a character they can love.
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet! (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0056-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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