Dog Eat Dog

January 15, 2015
Wunderkind Marcionette returns with another tale about his gifted preteen, Just Jake (2014).After a rocky start, Jake Mathews finally feels at home among the other gifted "misfits" in Mrs. Pilsen's sixth-grade class at Kinney Elementary. But just as he gets his groove back, Jake's teacher goes and delivers a baby in the middle of the year, leaving Jake and the rest of the class in the hands of Ms. Cane, a pink-haired, tattooed, ex-prison guard substitute. Even his older sister, Alexis, who has yet to lose or shy away from a battle, pales in comparison to Ms. Cane. In this sequel, Marcionette allows a well-developed and engaging cast of secondary characters to share the spotlight with Jake as he struggles to survive twin antagonists: the maniacal substitute, who plots to use her students to launch a pet-grooming business in order to fund her retirement, and his evil sister, who's determined to exact revenge on him for blowing her cover at the dinner table. Things grow even more interesting when his worlds collide and Alexis and Ms. Cane join forces. This high-concept novel is laugh-out-loud funny and filled with collaged-in illustrations, screen shots and even a few rap lyrics, not only adding to the humor, but also breaking up the text in a way that may attract less-confident readers. Jake Mathews' "AWESOMENESS" is legit, and fans will be clamoring for more. (Fiction. 9-12)

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March 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-In this stand-alone sequel to Just Jake (Grosset & Dunlap, 2014), Jake has settled into Kinney Elemantary School but is thrown a curve when he gets a new teacher, Ms. Cane, who is extreme in appearance and teaching style. Instead of doing traditional schoolwork for the rest of the year, the class will take on a project: operating Ms. Cane's mobile pet-grooming business. Jake touts his "awesomeness," but like Wimpy Kid's Greg Heffley, he's no role model. Jake's understanding that Ms. Cane isn't using the kids to be mean (she's afraid of not having enough money to retire) evaporates the instant he is reassigned to a menial task other kids had been doing. His envy of buddy Michael's lacrosse and business skills undermines their friendship until Michael offers to help with the menial work. Author Marcionette, now in eighth grade, shows promise in moments of genuine wit (such as writing an amusing parental permission slip) despite heavy use of exclamation points to fabricate drama. Pop culture references including Vine, selfies, Yelp, and slang terms like adorbs may limit the title's circulation life. Villa's full-color cartoons, cutouts and captions support the tween humor; sharp-eyed readers will appreciate his flip animation drawings throughout. VERDICT Fun for those who can't get enough of the heavily illustrated, comic diary novel format.-Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

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