Found this by chance browsing the library shelves. Enjoyed it so much I immediately requested all five of the series. This one will be forever fixed in my memory because my kid and I read it side-by-side (waiting for the other to finish before turning the page) while watching the solar eclipse. So now you know how far behind I am on typing up my reviews. We’d set a three-minute timer to view the sun with awe, then turn onto our bellies to read a handful of pages while taking a break- and repeat. On a blanket in a field. Both got a lot of chuckles out of this book.
It’s comics about this kid and his precocious little brother (I think– he speaks in complete sentences but gets carried around in a snugli thing, so not sure of the age), his best friend Spud, and a new girl in town who impresses the boys when on her first day at school she loudly announces she will lob a rock at a hornet’s nest- and does! They live in a small fishing village. Wacky little adventures, odd and sometimes disgusting kid interests, funny quips by the parents trying to tolerate all the mayhem. Really enjoyable. These kids climb onto roofs to see the view, dare each other to stick arms down a hole with an unknown occupant, fish for coins in a storm drain, sneak toys to school in their lunchbox, gift each other dead insects, throw mushy apples at tourists on the ferry, rescue a snake from the school bathroom, take flying leaps off the swing, and so much more. I loved the parents’ characterization just as much. Like when the mom realizes she enjoys comic books too (discovered because she had to read a few to check for violence or other objective material, before letting her kid have them) and then embarrasses Wallace by going to the comic store with him. Ha ha.
Borrowed from the public library.
