Big Nate and Wimpy Kid fans will be right at home.
PJ McGee is on the case when his autographed cowboy hat is stolen.
Woods Road Elementary fifth-grader PJ McGee is famous; he saved the principal and was in the newspaper. Why doesn’t anyone want his autograph? He practices signing (all over the walls of the house…in permanent marker). When he attempts to sell his John Hancock, he gets no buyers—but he does discover that the scribble on the back of his cowboy hat is an actual autograph from Junior McFiddle, singer of the superpopular country song “Love Pony.” PJ’s suddenly the center of attention again until his hat’s stolen. PJ is sure the mysterious Nasty Ned, who has been putting up posters around the school made from letters cut out of magazines, is behind this nefarious crime. His sidekick (and the actual brains behind their “detective” successes), third-grader Dante, isn’t. PJ makes a new hat…and that’s stolen too. He vows to track down the culprit so he can be just like his absent father, who’s on a “secret mission” in Nashville. Mack continues the frenetic adventures of the enthusiastically clueless PJ in this third heavily illustrated chapter book (Clueless McGee and the Inflatable Pants, 2013, etc.). Told in a series of comic-strip–filled letters to his father, PJ’s tale is again a mix of slapstick grossness and silly naïveté, with a surprising sprinkle of complex humor.
Big Nate and Wimpy Kid fans will be right at home. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25751-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
A mystery, a school story, sibling rivalry and the loss of a pet blend surprisingly well in this engaging chapter book. Charmingly awkward fifth grader Edgar Allan decides to solve a series of minor thefts that are plaguing his teacher, Ms. Herschel. Clues are plentiful—and rhymed—but the competition to solve them is fierce. Edgar’s nemesis, Patrick Chen, seems to have the inside track since his dad works in forensics. Edgar, however, finds that the friends he makes along the way provide the winning edge. Including transcripts of Edgar’s ingenuous interviews as well as poems written by a number of class members in her narrative, Amato provides a clear picture of both social and family dynamics while keeping the story moving smoothly along. The author’s characteristic humor is somewhat muted, but examples of amusing wordplay abound. Some readers may guess the identity of the culprit more quickly than Edgar and his friends do, but whodunit is not really the point. Solving puzzles, making friends and learning to see the world more clearly are the true aims of this adventure. (Mystery. 7-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2271-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
"The short, sad life of Tooley Graham was over," doesn't sound like a happy conclusion but is pitch perfect in this short, simple and endearing middle-grade novel that follows on the heels of The Small Adeventure of Popeye and Elvis (2009). Owen Jester is focused on several things during his summer vacation: finding a way to keep his trapped "pet" bullfrog alive and happy, locating what fell off a train with a loud crash! one night and keeping annoying next-door neighbor Viola—who knows everything—out of their business as he schemes with his two best friends, Stumpy and Travis. The discovery of a sleek, red two-person submarine in the brush alongside the tracks changes everything. Can three young, girl-hating boys and a willing and very able—and tolerant—girl move a submarine to Graham Pond? If they manage that, will they ever be able to pilot it? In the heat of a languid Georgia summer vacation, in the dreams of irrepressible youth, anything is possible. O'Connor has spun a lovely read that perfectly captures the schemes and plans of school-age kids in the long days of summer. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-374-36850-0
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
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