Jake the Fake Keeps It Real

December 19, 2016
Actor/comedian Robinson, Go the F**k to Sleep author Mansbach, and The Knight Life cartoonist Knight team up for a slightly edgy spoof of touchy-feely,
experiential education in this heavily
illustrated story. Jake, an African-American sixth grader, has a severe case of imposter syndrome after cheating and faking his way into the elite Music and Art Academy. Jake’s gifted older sister, Lisa, thrives at the academy, where students are encouraged to get creative through assignments like chewing a piece of gum for six hours, then writing a play about it. Under the very loose tutelage of free-spirited Mr. Allen, Jake pushes the definition of artistic in order to “throw everybody off the scent of my fakeness,” finding freedom (and a cover) in intentionally bizarre behavior such as trash sculpting or creating bands that don’t play music. Knight’s zippy b&w spot illustrations play up the story’s gross-out humor—as in a scene of laser-beam-wielding dolphins decapitating radioactive kangaroos during Jake’s book report about an imaginary book—and a supporting cast of quirky art-school types rounds out this offbeat novel, first in a planned series. Ages 8–12.

December 15, 2016
Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can't read music very well, and he can't improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it. Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing...talent. Or is he? It's up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight's illustrations adding to the fun, Jake's story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory. A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 3-6-Jake is starting sixth grade at the Music and Art Academy (M&AA). He's nervous not just because he's at a new school but also because his sister is an incredibly talented senior there and Jake might have gotten in by accident: he faked playing the piano and singing an original song. His struggles to fit in with the "weird and artsy" kids at his new school make up the bulk of the plot until the end-of-the-semester talent show is announced and Jake can't think of something to do. He eventually finds his real talent right onstage. Accompanied by comic strip-style art, this tale of middle school woes from Robinson (of The Office fame) and Mansbach (Go the Fuck to Sleep) hits a few humorous notes and more than a few flats. Notably, Jake's jokes sometimes rely on ableism (for example, he describes a piano piece as being so easy that "a guy with only two fingers could do it," further commenting, "That guy's nickname would be Peace Sign."). More disturbing, a whole segment follows the class on a field trip to the local mall, where they are assigned to go on a "vision quest" to find their "consumer spirit item" after an earlier reference to "a mummified Madagascar Monkey Porpoise," which serves as the teacher's former spirit animal. This type of flippant allusion to "spirit animals/items" perpetuates and affirms dangerous stereotypes about Native American cultures. VERDICT While fans of Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" and Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" might enjoy some of the humor, the cultural insensitivities make this title a pass.-Brittany Drehobl, Eisenhower Public Library District, IL

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
Grades 3-6 Jake's sure he doesn't belong at Music and Arts Academy. He squeaked through his piano audition with some tips from his perfect sister, but music's not his strong suit, and now he's waiting for the day his teachers discover he's really a fraud. But while he's busy completing bizarre assignments (like a book report on a book that doesn't exist) and doing his best flight under the radar by fitting in with the weird crowd, he's also discovering a new talent: comedy. Robinson and Mansbach amp up the laughs in this wry novel, especially when readers get glimpses of some of African American Jake's assignments (made even more uproarious by Knight's caricature-like spot illustrations). There's a solid message here, but it fittingly takes a backseat to the over-the-top school antics, which are made even more outlandish in Jake's straight-faced, first-person narrative. With comical characters, relatable stakes, and an unobtrusive kernel of a lesson about creativity at its heart, this series starter will likely find an easy audience among middle-schoolers, especially Wimpy Kid fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)