Eager to begin his Pulitzer quest, Charles begins to assist Margo in her work and discovers the secret world of monsters and...
In the sequel to The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo (2017), aspiring journalist Charles Thompson works closely with Margo Maloo, who resolves problems between children and the monsters they encounter.
Eager to begin his Pulitzer quest, Charles begins to assist Margo in her work and discovers the secret world of monsters and is determined to show the world—through his blog—that they are not as dangerous as humans make them out to be. In episodic graphic chapters, Charles and Margo help Fyo, a baby imp, find his family and address the concerns of teenage vampires who live in an abandoned mall. While the child characters are representative of limited races—Charles is white, Margo is Indian-American, and Kevin is black—the often misunderstood monsters allow a lot more room for a lot more interpretation. Characters are deftly developed through dialogue bubbles and visually, the gremlinlike Fyo’s distress at discovering his former home knocked down taken just as seriously as Margo’s tender relationship with her elderly uncle, who appears to be slipping into dementia. The graphic narrative points out that different is not necessarily bad and that humans and monsters are afraid of one another primarily because of misinformation and miscommunication—a valuable lesson for human-human relations as well.Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-492-1
Page Count: 130
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Roll initiative and pick this one up.
Valeria Winters approaches starting yet another new school by picturing herself as a bold fantasy character with a quest. Maybe this time she won’t get into fights?
Predictably, Val’s first day is horrible. Fortunately, it’s brightened by an invitation to join the all-boys Table Titans Dungeons & Dragons gaming club. Though Val’s excited, the invitation invokes the sneering disdain of popular Kate, who secretly wishes to join, too. Val realizes she loves D&D, and if hardcore gamer Alan isn’t thrilled with her, the other Titans are welcoming. When the club needs a new faculty sponsor, Val bags the wrestling coach by joining his team. But Kate remains jealous and dismissive, leading to a fight that jeopardizes both the club and Val’s place on the wrestling team. (Her wrestling prowess despite having no formal training is a minor point of disbelief.) Val is a delightful character: spirited, smart, imaginative, self-confident without conceit, and firmly lawful good. Other characters are also distinctive and believable, including the sympathetic adults who mete out fair consequences. Gamers will appreciate the unapologetic love of D&D. School-story fans will welcome the mild social drama mixed with themes of friendship and teamwork. Most main characters appear white; gamer Darius reads Black. Though the colorful, cartoony drawings suit the story, the stylized face- and ear-shapes used for multiple characters, including Val and Darius, render them somewhat apelike, and an Asian American teacher has an unnaturally yellow skin tone.
Roll initiative and pick this one up. (Graphic fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780823453160
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Should help readers muddle through middle school themselves.
Follow Dave’s journey as he navigates his time as a new student in middle, er…Muddle School.
Dave’s family has just moved to Muddle and hope that this new environment will inspire their son to get better grades and find himself. Sadly, his mother’s attempts to help him make a good first impression lead him to wear a powder-blue leisure suit that quickly makes him the target of a trio of bullies. This account begins an autobiographical retelling of the author/artist’s time at a new school and how his increasingly positive attitude over the course of the year helped him to gain popularity and develop a core group of friends. The message isn’t too heavy-handed (although the theme is directly addressed by a studious friend), and readers will have a lot of laughs (often at Dave’s expense) along the way. The cartoon artwork, heavily lined in black and shaded in faded blues with Dave’s looser cartoons interspersed on faux lined paper, is amusing, but characterizations are not always visually consistent. The theme and the humor transcend this concern, however, and rabid fans of series such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid or The Popularity Papers will happily gobble this up. Dave, his family, and most of his classmates present White, though there are some characters of color, including Dave’s chief bully and Dave’s crush.
Should help readers muddle through middle school themselves. (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0486-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
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