Zeke Meeks vs the Putrid Puppet Pals

January 9, 2012
In one of four heavily illustrated novels launching the Zeke Meeks chapter book series, Green and Alves address fads, consumerism, and schoolyard tribulations with ample amounts of irreverent and self-referential humor. Third-grader Zeke likes to spend recess shooting hoops, but his friends have forsaken basketball (and all other physical activity) for Puppet Pals, a much-hyped brand of finger puppets that are inspiring Beanie Baby–like levels of devotion. Since no one will play with him, Zeke eventually caves in and buys a box of Puppet Pals, which only results in additional clashes with popular kids and bullies alike. Levelheaded Zeke is an entertaining and likable narrator (“I love happy endings.... Then I glanced at this book. I realized this isn’t the ending. There are a lot more pages left”), though other characters are less fully developed; the classmates’ banter gives the book a Saturday morning cartoon sensibility, underscored by Alves’s Nickelodeon-ready spot art. Amid all the one-liners, Green encourages readers not to just follow the herd—especially when expensive “bits of colored felt” are involved. Ages 7–10.

December 15, 2011
Readers who prefer an easier-to-read option to the Wimpy Kid series will find Zeke Meeks' comic responses to the tribulations of life as a third grader amusingly familiar. Silly Bands are a thing of the past for Zeke and his buddies. Fueled by relentless television commercials, a new craze has infiltrated his school: Puppet Pals. Puppet Pals are collectible finger puppets, complete with their own paraphernalia, which keep Zeke's friends busy during class, on the playground or after school. Zeke is left to play with--shudder--the kissing girls at recess because everyone is busy with puppets. Hilarious first-person narration gets the details of third-grade life right: the illogic of fads, the power of trend setters and the lengths some kids will go to belong. This chronicle of the arc of a grade-school obsession is funny, and readers will laugh when thinking about the trends that are undoubtedly racing through their schools. Brief paragraphs, familiar, humorous situations and frequent cartoon illustrations make this especially easy to read and will lead to laugh-out-loud moments for second- and third-grade readers. Short, choppy sentences and an excess of silly will put this in the same category as Captain Underpants: painful for teachers and parents to listen to, but this book is not for them. Zeke has a good chance at becoming a popular fad for new readers. (Fiction. 7-10)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 15, 2012
Grades 2-4 Zeke's little sister, Mia, loves to sing jingles from her favorite TV show that are all variants on Make sure to sneeze into your hand, la la la. So you'll know where your snot will land, la la la. The family dog, Waggles, repeatedly drools on Zeke's lap, prompting observers to crow that he's wet his pants. In a series kickoff episode aimed directly at readers who find that kind of humor giggle-worthy, Green puts her third-grader into a terrible, awful, horrible, muy mal mood because everyone else in his class, from best friend Hector Cruz to bully Grace Chang, has gone nuts over collecting finger puppets called Puppet Pals (think Beanie Babies). Monochrome cartoons, some with punchlines, decorate every spread of widely spaced text, and the author adds both study questions and directions for making felt finger puppets at the end. Unlike Suzy Kline's Horrible Harry, Zeke hates bugs, but his formulaic misadventures should tempt the same audience.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)