Tuesday, September 1, 2015

My Life as a Cartoonist by Janet Tashjian - ADVISABLE

Tashjian, Janet My Life as a Cartoonist, cartoons by Jake Tashjian, 259 pgs. MacMillan (Henry Holt), 2013. $13.99. Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.  

12-year-old Derek has been drawing for years; mostly stick figures, but he’s getting better.  Especially with the advice of his father, who is an artist.  So when Jake starts a Cartooning club as an after school activity, he’s excited to work with other kids who like to draw, too.  Until the new kid come to the class, the kid who has been tormenting and harassing Derek ever since he moved in.  Derek can’t really fight back, because the new kid is in a wheelchair, so everything Derek does looks like he’s picking on Umberto.  

Book #3 in the “My Life” series addresses the topics of friendship and bullying.  Funny and poignant, the bullying keeps you turning the pages (to make sure Derek is going to be ok) and the stick figure vocabulary drawings, again, add an additional humourous perspective.  Be sure to get the whole series.  Wimpy kid readers will love these.  

EL, MS - ADVISABLE  Lisa Librarian

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