Peanut

by Ayun Halliday
illustrated by Paule Hoppe
April 2013


How could you not be attracted to this cover?  It certainly is eye catching. But there are lots of books with eye catching covers, so I didn't pick this one up until a coworker told me what it was about.

It's a graphic novel (or comic book - I'm not sure what we're supposed to call these anymore). Sadie is about to start a new school,  again. She's tired of being the new girl, tired of trying so hard to be noticed and make friends.  She comes up with the plan of buying a medical ID bracelet and feigning a peanut allergy.  It works!  Sadie gets attention and sympathy from her fake ailment. The problem is keeping the act up all school year. You know, with a peanut allergy, one slip could spell disaster. The same is true of a fake peanut allergy.

A fun book for a middle school and high school audience.

Cardboard

by Doug TenNapel
December 2012

This is a graphic novel. I can't remember exactly why I chose to read it, but I enjoyed it.

"When cardboard creatures come magically to life, a boy must save his town from disaster.

Cam's down-and-out father gives him a cardboard box for his birthday and he knows it's the worst present ever. So to make the best of a bad situation, they bend the cardboard into a man-and to their astonishment, it comes magically to life. But the neighborhood bully, Marcus, warps the powerful cardboard into his own evil creations that threaten to destroy them all!"  - Description from Amazon

This is kind of a Sorcerer's Apprentice type story with magic unleashed and out-of-control.

Fun.