Gr 6-9-Hannan's abundant cartoons set the tone for the misadventures of Davis Delaware, the new kid in ninth grade. Davis's attempts to blend in quickly land him on the wrong side of school bully Gerald "the Butcher" when he forms a band with Gerald's cute girlfriend, Molly, and her dweeby friend, Edwin. Stock characters of clueless parents and hapless teachers will be familiar to most readers, as will scenes of typical high-school high jinks: cafeteria food-throwing, locker troubles, and gym-class peril. Occasionally, Hannan breaks the surface with welcome insights into Davis's feelings: the recent death of his mother gives him a mature perspective on coping with Gerald and how to face a challenge he would rather avoid. A disastrous father-son camping trip ends on a hopeful note when the two are able to share their grief in a comical manner completely in keeping with their characters. Hannan's edgy, exaggerated style suits the humor-driven narrative well. Give this to readers who enjoy light, entertaining realistic fiction.-M. Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

"We'd moved eighty-seven miles, from one crappy school to another," says ninth grader Davis Delaware after his mother dies and his father decides to move and start a new life. High school is always bad enough, but being the new kid is even worse, and Davis's year becomes "some kind of nasty Life Sucks soup." He meets Molly, though, beautiful Molly, with reddish hair, lots of freckles, and an attitude, a girl as likely to punch him in the stomach as kiss him...and who is also the girlfriend of Gerald, the school bully, a.k.a. "the Butcher" (or, as Davis calls him, "the lobotomized gorilla"). Of course, Davis becomes Gerald's target, adding fear to tedium as the twin themes of his school experience. Only Davis's skills as an observer and his new rock band, the Amazing Dweebs, get him through the year. Davis's lively first-person narrative is driven by dialogue, cartoons and doodles, and song lyrics, including two lines that sum up his school life: "Don't talk, take a test, welcome to the cuckoo's nest...bored." Latching on to the popular Wimpy Kid formula of prose and cartoons, Hannan delivers the requisite giggles over farts, poop, and jockstraps and captures the melodrama and frenzy of high school life, all through the perspective of a likable protagonist just trying to get by. dean schneider (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.