Another winning shot for the well-oiled Wimpy Kid machine.
The wimpy kid tries to throw away his shot.
After a dreadful performance at his school’s field day games, Greg Heffley is content to sit out any and all organized sports. Greg’s mom refuses to let him give up, pushing him to try out for the school basketball team. Unsurprisingly, Greg doesn’t make the cut, but a series of peculiar events leads him to join a ragtag crew of ne’er-do-wells who form a brand-new team. Needless to say, things do not go well. As the losses mount and exasperation builds, Kinney keeps the laughs coming at the usual run-and-gun pace. Fans of the long-running series will find what they expect here: wry humor, petulant tweens, and the single-panel comics that round out the Wimpy Kid universe. At this point, the series that single-handedly created an entire middle grade genre built around smarmy cartoon protagonists could easily rest on its laurels, but Kinney’s fondness for these characters shines through in this accomplished installment, proving that he is no lion in winter. The gags are good, the characters endear, and the story crackles. There are too many Wimpy Kid books to rank here, but when those Buzzfeed articles eventually get written, Big Shot will be near the top.
Another winning shot for the well-oiled Wimpy Kid machine. (Graphic novel. 7-12)Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 9-781-4197-4915-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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