BIGFOOT AND THE WILD BOYS

“Average Joe” hates his too-accurate nickname; how far will he go to change it?

No one notices Joe! Though his buddy Tiago—whose many talents include soccer prowess and a gift for language—is reassuring, Joe wants to start middle school “as a new person.” A YouTube video centered on an outdoor adventurer known as Wildman Mike convinces him to follow suit, and the report of a mysterious creature in nearby Bentley Woods sends the pair off on a quest for Bigfoot. When Joe actually meets Wildman Mike, his image of his hero is shattered, and various challenges briefly strain the friendship between the boys to the breaking point, necessitating a change of plans and requiring some leafy toilet paper. When they do eventually meet a real “wild man” in the woods, he is both scary and enlightening, and though Joe’s escapades don’t go as planned, he emerges feeling ready at last for middle school. Tiago, portrayed with shaded skin and black hair, and Joe, with skin and hair the color of the page, make a lively contrast: Tiago’s calm rationality plays comically against Joe’s excitability and overconfidence. The pace of this U.K. import is fast, and the action funny and suspenseful enough to keep readers turning pages (an especially hilarious scene sees the boys comparing their “pee arcs”). Deft prose and well-crafted characters are reinforced by amusing cartoon line illustrations.

A laugh-out-loud tale of friendship, delusion, and self-acceptance.