Shark and Bot (Shark and Bot #1)

Gr 1-4--A great white shark and a robot become unlikely-but-fast friends in this new chapter book graphic novel. New kid Shark, who just arrived from Australia, feels a little like a cartilaginous marine superpredator out of water, despite his outgoing nature. Bot lives exactly 0.185 miles from the playground but is "not good at meeting people." At first they have a little misery competition over who's worse at making friends, but as they discuss why they can't be friends with each other (spoiler: water), they discover that they're both fans of the same superhero book series, in which a half-dozen mutated doughnuts (the Glo-Nuts) pool their unique abilities to save the world. There's enough wackadoo humor here to make the upbeat, slightly hamfisted story go down without a hiccup, especially when Shark and Bot take on a squad of territorial playground kids. Among their rejected strategies are "fight" and "ask nicely"--they finally settle on challenging the bullies to a dance battle. Fun side pieces are sprinkled throughout, such as the Glo-Nuts' origin story and an eight-page comic book adventure, instructions for doing Shark and Bot's winning dance, and graphs and lists that give readers practice with various ways to present information. Color art that is a little clumsy in spots is easy to decipher, accessible, and energetic. Though most characters are nonhuman, a few people appear (Bot remembers playing video games with a brown-skinned girl; one of the bullies includes a white boy). VERDICT Shove Shark and Bot into the bottomless pit that is the elementary schooler's appetite for funny graphic novel chapter books.--Paula Willey, Enoch Pratt Free Lib., Baltimore

When they first meet up on a suburban playground, lonely Bot and new-kid-in-town Shark, who totes a stuffed bear, seem unlikely to become friends--in fact, Bot generates a graph showing how slim the odds are. But they bond over a mutual love of a fictive graphic novel series called Glo-Nuts (about doughnuts mixed with mutant DNA), and together, they win over a gang of playground bullies with some impressive dance moves, forming a more inclusive crew. With this graphic novel series starter, Yanish creates a sweet spot of genial, straightforward compositions and highly polished comic rhythms. While the bully plot feels stale and even misguided (why should Shark and Bot have to prove anything to use a public playground?), there's a lot of fun in the duo's geeking out and cracking wise. Interactive material appears throughout, such as tips for replicating the "Shark-Bot" dance and drawing the starring odd couple. Ages 5-8. (Sept.)