Everyone's Awake

December 9, 2019
Harris (What Can a Citizen Do?) opens this comic romp with a nighttime view of a dark, brooding structure—half haunted mansion, half lighthouse. A page turn sets the lights ablaze as the child narrator discovers that, rather than sleeping, “everyone’s awake.” Things start quietly (“Grandma’s at her needlework./ Dad is baking bread”) but soon escalate: “The dog’s into the eggnog:/ Mom’s tap dancing to Prince/ while Dad is on the laptop/ buying ten-yard bolts of chintz.” Bold, silk-screen-esque forms coalesce into tapestries of gleeful chaos for the multiethnic family. Mom clutches the eggnog punch bowl with one arm and a vinyl record with the other; pajama-clad Dad lies belly-down with his laptop. The siblings aren’t shy, either: “My brother’s now reciting/ every line from Condorman/ while my sister is trapezing/ from the kitchen ceiling fan.” Gothic mystery creeps in, too, as a ghostly shipwreck outside produces “long-dead/ Grandpa Paul” for a game of whist. Manic though it may be, the family’s live-and-let-live attitude toward its members’ rule-breaking peculiarities makes this rip-roaring romp by Meloy (The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid) defiantly wholesome. Ages 5–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

December 15, 2019
An energetic, insomniac romp of an anti-bedtime book. A wakeful child narrator recounts the goings-on in a large, multiracial family's zany household long after everyone should be asleep. Rhyming verse with a singsong cadence details activities ranging from the mundane ("Grandma's at her needlework. / Dad is baking bread. / My brother's making laundry lists / of every book he's read") to the bizarre ("Now Mom just took an audience / with Queen Sigrid the Third. / My brother has just taught the cat a dozen dirty words"). It's a rollicking read-aloud, but inconsistent line breaks may cause some to slip up upon first reading. Pop-culture references pep things up and range from the stodgy (Sinatra, "Clementine") to the very contemporary (poke tattoos, the film Condorman), though the conceit drags on a bit too long. Throughout, Harris' illustrations have a retro feel that evokes, at turns, Tomie Ungerer and Maira Kalman, and they expand on the details of the text to ratchet up the humor and drama--building on the mention of a lake to depict the setting not as a mere house but an elaborate lighthouse. The conclusion shows the narrator descending the stairs to find everyone asleep at daybreak, a predictable, yet satisfying, end. Don't sleep on this one. (Picture book. 3-7)

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February 1, 2020

Gr 3-5-The plot of this picture book is summed up by the title. There is a large family living under one roof and they should be sleeping-but everyone is awake, including our young narrator. Written by Meloy, frontman of the band The Decemberists, the text frequently makes literary and pop culture references for adults to catch, like shout-outs to Prince and Baudelaire. Our narrator expresses quiet bewilderment at the antics of his siblings, parents, grandparents, and even the family pets. Illustrated by Harris, Dave Eggers's frequent collaborator, spreads start off delightfully simple but quickly grow more hectic as the family's insomniac activities intensify. Pictures are packed with details, inclusing clever allusions to other picture books and chapter books for young readers. The plot turns increasingly ridiculous, with brother and sister fighting an international war. However, the text ends with a crowd-pleasing underwear joke sure to crack up anyone, even those who might not follow the rest of the action. VERDICT Recommended for youngsters (and their grownups) who come from or enjoy observing a family with more quirks than every cast member of a Wes Anderson movie combined.-Chance Lee Joyner, Wilton Public and Gregg Free Library, NH

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020
Grades K-2 Late at night, in a lighthouse-topped island mansion, a young boy lies in bed listening to the sounds of his family, all still awake. It begins innocently? Grandma's at her needlework / Dad is baking bread ?with the family partaking in ordinary activities, but then, as a dripping, green ghost ship rises out of the surrounding waters, the energy begins to build, and the family's antics grow increasingly frenzied. Meloy's musical text, always bouncing forward in Seussian rhythms, builds along with the action: Grandma's on to playing whist / with long-dead / Grandpa Paul, / and the dog / has started throwing darts / against my / bedroom wall. It's an exercise in energetic absurdity, a busier, edgier, and more grounded take on Eric Carle's The Nonsense Show, with Harris' primary spot-colored illustrations capturing the intensity and charm. References to topics such as Baudelaire, Pulitzers, and coup d'etats will go over youngsters' heads but nonetheless fit with the ludicrous escalation. By the end, the characters crash in exhaustion, and little ones should, too. An enticing bedtime alternative.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)