I Don't Believe It, Archie!

January 15, 2012
Some are born to mayhem (Ivy + Bean come to mind), some achieve mayhem (Dav Pilkey's George and Harold)--and then there's Archie. Whenever he walks out the door (usually on an errand for his long-suffering mother) mayhem awaits, ready to thrust itself upon him. Wildly improbable, exciting events attach themselves to Archie every single day. Luckily, Archie has Cyd on his side, the girl he rescues from a rogue piano and, later, a giant heap of gravel. Realizing the thrilling life her new friend leads, Cyd begs to be included in future adventures and quickly proves her worth. When Archie find himself glued to the library doors, Cyd fetches her nurse mum while Archie fortuitously foils a plan to replace the library with a parking lot. Sharply observant Cyd is on hand to explain when he's mistaken for a kidnapping victim and when he's accused of robbery that's really the work of Big Barry Bolan and Fergus O'Donnell. (These very Irish names among a cast of mostly unnamed adults strike the book's only sour note.) Hannah Shaw's cheery illustrations deftly document the chaos (as in Katie Davies' Anna and Suzanne books, Shaw's gift for conveying feline moods is on display) and disapproving adults who invariably misunderstand what's happening. A winning American debut from this well-established winner of England's Whitbread Award. (Fiction.7-10)

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March 1, 2012

Gr 4-6-Each of seven chapters follows one day in young Archie's week, beginning with the boy on an errand or out with his friend Cyd. Every day ends with the errand or outing incomplete and his mother declaring, "Honestly, I don't believe it, Archie." What his mother doesn't believe is the series of odd events that derail her son's plans, from confronting a leopard to foiling the kidnapping of a stranger who turns out to be Archie's wealthy look-alike, also named Archie. The events are not a plot but a series of unrelated mishaps and misunderstandings, undermining the book's appealing premise. In Sunday's climax, four characters from previous days reappear at preposterously convenient moments, straining credibility even in a book meant to be humorous. British terms (lorry, trainers, jumper) are sprinkled throughout, but the setting could be any suburban town. Characterization is completely absent. Archie remains unaffected by the strange things that always seem to happen around him. Cyd, introduced in chapter one, is limited to being a witness to clear Archie's name at the end of each mix-up. Black-and-white illustrations are plentiful but appear to be drawn by a middle-school-aged child, conflicting with the third-person narration. Archie might provide readers with a few chuckles, but little else. A better choice for funny, improbable-adventure fiction is Mary Amato's "Riot Brothers" series (Holiday House).-M. Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2012
Grades 2-5 *Starred Review* Clearly destined to become the Most Interesting Man in the World when he grows up, young Archie is an ordinary lad to whom extraordinary things happenevery day. On Monday, he is the only witness as a rolling car with a child and a would-be rescuer inside gets buried beneath a load of gravel. On Tuesday, he is blamed for killing a dog that he is actually rescuing. On Wednesday, he discovers the hard way that the handles on both doors of his local library have been coated with superglue. With superb comic timing, Norriss casts his levelheaded but inarticulate chappie into one escalating predicament after anothereach exacerbated by adults who arrive on the scene a little late and won't listen to his stammered explanations. Fortunately, Archie makes a new friend, Cyd, who has a knack for always being ready with a cogent video, a handy cell phone, or just the right words to untangle each mare's nest. Like Cyd, readers will be vastly entertained by Archie's misadventures (all of which interrupt quick errands for his mother that, to her continuing exasperation, somehow never get done) and delighted by the uncommonly clever way that the author caps off the eventful week by weaving all of its tangles into an almost magical resolution to Sunday's crisis. Shaw's cartoon sketches reflect the tongue-in-cheek tone of each hilarious episode.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)