Years ago I read many of Napoli’s works and enjoyed them. This one, however, I did not. The fantastical side of the main character being a mermaid but also easily able to transform into a “regular” human had no explanation. Of course, her plight – controlled by the awful “Neptune” – engenders sympathy. Unfortunately, that sympathy did not do nearly enough to rescue the rest of the
story. I will not add this one to my classroom library.
In this series of posts regarding graphic novels, I have read quite a few superhero themed books. Some have worked; most have not. This one, thankfully, falls in the former category. I appreciated how the author chronicled the main character’s journey to find his superhero origin story as well as the incorporation of other superheroes in a way that a relative newbie like me would not be put off by. I may add this one to the shelves
but because I consider it to lean towards the upper YA age range, it’s not a high priority for my middle school shelves.
Most books – of all formats – set in this time period, have to do a lot to stand out and engaged me as a reader because there are just so many. This one did a decent job but does not quite stand out. I appreciated the focus on the photography and its use in showing us how the main character saw her world. I would not decline to put this on my classroom shelves but I also would not make it a priority.
Um. What even was this? Although all of the previous Comix kid subscription picks have been hits for me, this one did not quite work. It’s incredibly short, only 56 pages, but it has the type of absurdist humor that some kids at that age range enjoy. It reminds me of some Nickelodeon shows popular back in the 90s and early 2000s. Even if I had been allowed to watch them, I had no inclination to do so. If I had not already owned this courtesy of the subscription, I would not have gone out of my way to purchase it.
I purchased this book a month or so ago and have already added it to my shelves. It’s one of several that I have read in this companion series. Based on its popularity (multiple students have already chosen to read it during independent reading) I have bumped up the other books on my list. This one once again alternates between panel and illustration style for the two points of view whose stories integrate quite well.
I love the friendship bond of these characters and how well they work together. Is it still a little unreasonable that four middle schoolers would be tasked with such dangerous activities? Of course but that’s what you get with a lot of middle grade fantasy. I also still have my doubts about the adult character supposedly helping them but we shall see in the next installment. Of course, I will add this to my shelves,
especially since my students would not miss much if they grabbed this volume first since they often do not bother to check series order.
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