 | Big break Author: Tatulli, Mark | |
| Price: $10.65 | ||
Summary:
Russ's friendship with Andrew disintegrates when Russ gets a girlfriend, leaving the video they are making without an ending, but a close encounter with the legendary Jersey Devil brings them back together.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 2.70 Points: 1.0 Quiz: 510460 |
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 01/01/2020 Gr 3–7—A good friend is hard to find, but true friendship stands the test of time, according to Tatulli. The author of the memoir Short & Skinny this time turns to fiction but still demonstrates the same intuitive understanding of children's angst and insecurities. As part of a video contest, longtime best friends Andrew and Russ are documenting their search for the legendary Jersey Devil. Andrew loves hanging out with his friends, daydreaming, drawing, and being his mom's little boy. Russ, however, is ready to move on and grow up, and, to Andrew's horror, he begins dating artsy, first-chair violinist Tara, which drives a wedge between them. But with the help of their other friends Ray, Dante, and Lexa and librarian Miss Robbins, Andrew and Russ learn what real friendship is all about as they all embark on a daring journey to finish their movie. Tatulli conveys the drama of friendship perfectly. His loose, buoyant cartoons and his humorous text make heavy topics easier to digest. Dialogue is spot-on; characters' use of slang will appeal to readers. VERDICT With this reassuring graphic novel, Tatulli offers a lifeline to middle schoolers dealing with the trials and tribulations of friendships. His lessons—a newcomer doesn't always spell disaster for a friendship, and it's OK to branch out and make new friends—will resonate strongly with middle grade readers.—Beronica Puhr, Oak Park Public Library, IL - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 01/01/2020 The Telgemeierian tale of middle-grade social-emotional stress is an industry standard by now, but Tatulli puts his own spin on it by flipping genders and focusing on the tumultuous friendship of two boys. Andrew and Russ spend their weekends and after-school time working on a homemade docu-monster movie about their hunt for the legendary Jersey Devil. Until, that is, Russ starts doing homework with Tara Wallbuck. Before you know it, Russ’s maturing interests come crashing into Andrew’s boyish expectations, and their walks to school, their movie, and their friendship are blown to smithereens. It’s a familiar story, but Tatulli gives it a genuine emotional pull as we watch Andrew navigate his father’s recent passing and his mother’s overbearing protectiveness, and several moments of high emotion explode in double-page spreads. There’s genuine humor here, too, which Tatulli’s lively, elastic-faced figures capitalize on. Rest assured, things end hopefully, thanks to a charmingly fantastical final twist. Indeed, genre aficionados will recognize much here, including a wondrous homage to Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion creatures from the Golden Voyage of Sinbad. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.
