Salvatore Wallingford McNally, nicknamed Scab, uses his scientific studies for an even more practical purpose than annoying his twin sister: getting out of his dreaded swimming lessons. He’d rather spend his early-morning hours relaxing with his fishing buddies than diving in the deep end, but his outlandish pranks threaten to derail his summer plans. When his elusive catch slips away, Scab concocts a plan to hook the dinosaur believed to be hiding in the lake. His fast-paced first-person narration features punchy one-liners and revels in revolting gags to propel the unlikely events, though nuanced characterization reveals some complexity as Scab struggles for his peers’ acceptance. His flippant, comic voice resonates in his frequent journal lists. He outlines his quirkiest fears, including a phobia of the letter G. “I can’t write it in cursive. My teacher Miss Sweetandsour says my G’s are saggy. So are her ears.” Paillot’s angular drawings suit the characters’s zany antics. The Secrets of a Lab Rat series serves up another chuckle-inducing helping with this second installment. (Fiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-7593-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2009
Despite its lackluster execution, this story’s simple premise and basic vocabulary make it suitable for younger readers...
From the author of the Animorphs series comes this earnest novel in verse about an orphaned Sudanese war refugee with a passion for cows, who has resettled in Minnesota with relatives.
Arriving in winter, Kek spots a cow that reminds him of his father’s herd, a familiar sight in an alien world. Later he returns with Hannah, a friendly foster child, and talks the cow’s owner into hiring him to look after it. When the owner plans to sell the cow, Kek becomes despondent. Full of wide-eyed amazement and unalloyed enthusiasm for all things American, Kek is a generic—bordering on insulting—stereotype. His tribe, culture and language are never identified; personal details, such as appearance and age, are vague or omitted. Lacking the quirks and foibles that bring characters to life, Kek seems more a composite of traits designed to instruct readers than an engaging individual in his own right.
Despite its lackluster execution, this story’s simple premise and basic vocabulary make it suitable for younger readers interested in the plight of war refugees. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-312-36765-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.
First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.
Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.
Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8109-9313-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
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