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CARTBOY AND THE TIME CAPSULE

Name: CARTBOY AND THE TIME CAPSULE
Author: L.A. Campbell
ISBN: 978-0-7653-3317-9

From the Cartboy series , Vol. 1

by L.A. Campbell ; illustrated by L.A. Campbell ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2013

A certain series starter (thankfully), given the promise of an interesting summer in the final pages.

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Bad enough history class is so boring; now it’s keeping Hal from getting his own room.

Sixth-grade history teacher Mr. Tupkin is making everyone keep journals for a time capsule to inform people 100 years from now about daily life in the 21st century—so history even makes the future lame. Hal’s history-buff dad says that he won’t move his fix-it business out of the spare room (so Hal can move in) unless Hal’s D in history becomes a B. Hal’s doomed to share a room with his baby sisters forever. Mom’s no help; she’s too busy studying acupuncture, forcing veganism on the family and taking in hand-me-downs from a bully for Hal to wear. His best friend, Arnie, is unsympathetic and, incredibly, more interested in the middle school dance than in important stuff like getting to level 13 on RavenCave. A fight with Arnie and a blowout with Dad make sixth-grade the worst year ever…can anything save it? Can anything save Hal? Campbell’s debut is fast and funny and dotted with drawings, labeled pictures and goofy timelines. Hal’s authentic voice and realistic 12-year-old sense of humor will hook Wimpy Kid fans, and the idea that history is more than facts and quotes comes across nicely without seeming forced.

A certain series starter (thankfully), given the promise of an interesting summer in the final pages. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: April 3, 2013

ISBN: 978-0-7653-3317-9

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Starscape/Tom Doherty

Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
CARTBOY GOES TO CAMP
by L.A. Campbell ; illustrated by L.A. Campbell

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JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL

From the Jake the Fake series , Vol. 1

by Craig Robinson & Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Keith Knight ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2017

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.

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Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.

Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: March 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE SINGING ROCK & OTHER BRAND-NEW FAIRY TALES

by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer ; illustrated by Simini Blocker ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2019

Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...

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The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.

Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”

Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)