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THE SECRETS TO RULING SCHOOL (WITHOUT EVEN TRYING)

From the Max Corrigan series , Vol. 1

Max’s proposed campaign and Swaab’s oblique storytelling style are equally engaging, though the latter definitely tends to...

Middle school newbies concerned about fitting in could do worse than fall for this breezy sales pitch from self-appointed “life coach” Max Corrigan. Probably.

So sure is Max of his skills that he guarantees potential customers that he can have them click with all the cliques—Jocks, Nerds, Preps, Band Geeks, Artists, Tough Kids, and Class Clowns—in the first week of school. Addressing anxious readers as those customers, Max glibly steers them into a series of quid-pro-quo deals while offering samples of stand-up–comic styles, artspeak jargon, conversational icebreakers (“What’s the most number of times you’ve vomited in one day?”), a lunchroom seating diagram, money-raising scams, and other useful skills. Interspersed with Wimpy Kid–style cartoon punch lines, threats from the angry principal, and comments from a broad range of typecast schoolmates, Max’s chatter masks a plotline in which the unseen client/reader squeaks through a series of nerve-wracking encounters that ultimately lead to a riot at a school assembly, the total humiliation of a rival “coach,” all bargains fulfilled, and a tantalizing lead-in to the next episode.

Max’s proposed campaign and Swaab’s oblique storytelling style are equally engaging, though the latter definitely tends to work better. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 10-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4197-1221-0

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015

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ALMOST SUPER

A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy.

Inventively tweaking a popular premise, Jensen pits two Incredibles-style families with superpowers against each other—until a new challenge rises to unite them.

The Johnsons invariably spit at the mere mention of their hated rivals, the Baileys. Likewise, all Baileys habitually shake their fists when referring to the Johnsons. Having long looked forward to getting a superpower so that he too can battle his clan’s nemeses, Rafter Bailey is devastated when, instead of being able to fly or something else cool, he acquires the “power” to strike a match on soft polyester. But when hated classmate Juanita Johnson turns up newly endowed with a similarly bogus power and, against all family tradition, they compare notes, it becomes clear that something fishy is going on. Both families regard themselves as the heroes and their rivals as the villains. Someone has been inciting them to fight each other. Worse yet, that someone has apparently developed a device that turns real superpowers into silly ones. Teaching themselves on the fly how to get past their prejudice and work together, Rafter, his little brother, Benny, and Juanita follow a well-laid-out chain of clues and deductions to the climactic discovery of a third, genuinely nefarious family, the Joneses, and a fiendishly clever scheme to dispose of all the Baileys and Johnsons at once. Can they carry the day?

A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy. (Adventure. 10-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-06-220961-0

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013

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MY LIFE AS A POTATO

On equal footing with a garden-variety potato.

The new kid in school endures becoming the school mascot.

Ben Hardy has never cared for potatoes, and this distaste has become a barrier to adjusting to life in his new Idaho town. His school’s mascot is the Spud, and after a series of misfortunes, Ben is enlisted to don the potato costume and cheer on his school’s team. Ben balances his duties as a life-sized potato against his desperate desire to hide the fact that he’s the dork in the suit. After all, his cute new crush, Jayla, wouldn’t be too impressed to discover Ben’s secret. The ensuing novel is a fairly boilerplate middle–grade narrative: snarky tween protagonist, the crush that isn’t quite what she seems, and a pair of best friends that have more going on than our hero initially believes. The author keeps the novel moving quickly, pushing forward with witty asides and narrative momentum so fast that readers won’t really mind that the plot’s spine is one they’ve encountered many times before. Once finished, readers will feel little resonance and move on to the next book in their to-read piles, but in the moment the novel is pleasant enough. Ben, Jayla, and Ben’s friend Hunter are white while Ellie, Ben’s other good pal, is Latina.

On equal footing with a garden-variety potato. (Fiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: March 24, 2020

ISBN: 978-0-593-11866-5

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019

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