WeirDo

February 1, 2019

Gr 1-4-Weir Do thinks he lost the lottery when it comes to names. His mother named him after her last name before marriage, and Do (rhymes with "go") may pay homage to his father's Vietnamese heritage, but does Weir no favors when he starts a new school. However, Weir's name is only the beginning of his problems as he struggles to make new friends and impress his crush despite her meeting his family, who live up to his "weird" namesake. The line cartoons that accompany the spare text makes this title serviceable to younger or reluctant readers. However, despite the diversity of the cast and often bodily-function induced chuckles provided by the author, other troubling aspects lie beneath the seemingly harmless doodles. Noting "a few surefire signs" on how to spot slow guys before a race, such as "socks pulled up too high" as well as a muscle contest between the boys after a female classmate compliments Weir's as "huge" knocks on toxic masculinity's door. Lining up girls in Weir's class in order of attractiveness, with his crush being seventh, as well as Weir's older sister shaming him for wearing her hand-me-down shoes round out the casual misogyny. As the book is already so short with not much plot outside of fart jokes and crushes, any misstep may as well be a full-on crash landing. VERDICT A passable purchase for those in desperate need of Wimpy Kid readalikes, but most socially conscious collections would be better served with Janet Tashjian's My Life as a Book or Stephan Pastis's "Timmy Failure" books.-Brittany Drehobl, Morton Grove Public Library, IL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2018
Once again the new kid at a new school, Weir (last name Do, rhymes with "go") learns that his name is just the beginning of his problems.With an episodic narrative style perfect for fans of David Pilkey and his ilk, author Do introduces Weir, his ridiculous and recognizable family, his propensity to say and do the wrong things, and his growing crush on Bella Allen. Dynamic type changes and Faber's clean line drawings punctuate the spare text, making this an accessible choice for emergent and reluctant readers. Weir's apparently multiracial family (black-haired dad was born in Vietnam, and light-haired mom's maiden name was Weir), including a flagrantly flatulent farter--er, father and a terror of a toddler brother, should resonate with a range of readers. Of less interest and relevance to readers of this genre, perhaps, are Weir's expressions of gendered norms. Younger readers may find Weir's romance unlikely or even off-putting, and older readers may wonder at the casual misogyny of a boys' muscle contest. Weir's description of Bella as the "seventh-best-looking girl at school," complete with an illustration of the seven girls lined up in order of prettiness, is equally unnecessary and unfunny, as is a reference to gendered clothing. All of the characters are depicted with paper-white skin.A mix of chortle-inducing comedic insight and cringeworthy comic tropes. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)

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November 15, 2018
Grades 2-4 Definitely designed to appeal to a rowdy audience, this Aussie import introduces a lad saddled with the last names of his two parents?Weir and Do?and an extended family that includes a little brother prone to slamming his thing in the toilet seat and a Vietnam-born father with major farting issues. Between the understandable hysteria resulting from a new school year's first roll call and an unexpected house visit from dreamy classmate Bella ( the seventh-best-looking girl at school ), the long-suffering narrator offers quick portraits of his supporting cast. Informal pen-and-ink cartoon drawings of the ensemble festoon a narrative that is presented in quick bursts of prose with many words printed in red, underlined, or in larger size. Making strenuous efforts to keep the humor as low as possible, the author chucks in butt cracks, pratfalls, exposed underwear, head lice, pants literally on fire, and other crowd-pleasing elements for a Wimpy Kid-style tale of particularly crude stripe, starring a third-grader with the worst name since Mrs. Face named her son Butt. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)