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Description
From the best-selling author of A Monster Calls, this funny, wise middle-grade series explodesevery stereotype--including what it means to be a hero--in a brilliant reptilian take on surviving school.
When Principal Wombat makes monitor lizards Zeke, Daniel, and Alicia hall monitors, Zeke gives up on popularity at his new school. Brought in as part of a district blending program, the monitor lizards were mostly ignored before. Reptiles aren't bullied any more than other students, but they do stick out among zebras, ostriches, and elk. Why would Principal Wombat make them hall monitors? Alicia explains that it's because mammals are afraid of being yelled (hissed) at by reptiles. The principal's just a good general, deploying her resources. Zeke balks, until he gets on the wrong side of Pelicarnassus. More than a bully, the pelican is a famed international supervillain--at least when his mother isn't looking. Maybe the halls are a war zone, and the school needs a hero. Too bad it isn't . . . Zeke. Smart, relatable, and densely illustrated in black and white for graphic appeal, this middle-grade series debut by a revered author returns to his themes of grief, bullying, and negotiating differences--but with zeal and comic relief to spare.
In this sincere, absurd anthropomorphic take on middle school, a young monitor lizard finds things spiraling out of control when he accidentally antagonizes the school bully. After being appointed hall monitor (not because he's a monitor lizard--that's just a coincidence), Zeke runs afoul of the bellicose pelican son of an international supervillain, classmate Pelicarnassus, who vows to make Zeke regret his actions. Now Zeke and his friends--effervescent Daniel and patient Alicia, both lizards, as well as hawk Miel, who is blind--must contend with a foe capable of procuring lasers and invading France (which is located on Zeke's knee due to a curse placed upon his "great-great-great-great (or possibly great-great-great-great-great) grandfather"). Meanwhile, Zeke's mother navigates persistent sadness about the death of his father; her grief is depicted as a black dog that "hung around his mom like a cloud." Using over-the-top prose, Ness (Different for Boys) details characters tackling mundane yet serious issues surrounding economic disparity, school violence, anger management, and self-image in a tale that is both deeply relatable and humorously off-kilter. Expressively goofy ink line illustrations by Miller (Izzy Paints) add whimsy and warmth. Ages 8-12. Author's agent: Michelle Kass, Michelle Kass Associates. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Sept.)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.
Kirkus
Starred Review
Heart and weirdness in equal measure prove you should never underestimate the power of a lizard!
Patrick Ness is the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling Chaos Walking trilogy. He has won numerous awards, including the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Booktrust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children's Book Award. Born in Virginia, he lives in London. Siobhan Dowd spent twenty years as a human rights campaigner for PEN and Amnesty International before her first novel, A Swift Pure Cry, was published in 2006. She won the Carnegie Medal posthumously in 2009 after her death at the age of forty-seven. Jim Kay studied illustration and worked in the archives of the Tate Gallery and the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, two experiences that heavily influence his work. His images for A Monster Calls use everything from beetles to breadboards to create interesting marks and textures. Jim Kay lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
