The Adventures of Beanboy

Gr 4–7—Comic-book dweeb Tucker MacBean fervently waits each month for the latest issue of his beloved superhero comic, H2O. When the publishers announce a contest to design the protagonist's sidekick, the seventh grader sees it as the solution to his problems. The prize is a full college scholarship, which he hopes to win for his mother so that she can quit her job to focus on school and her boys—Tucker and his brother with special needs, Beecher. Standing in his way is his arch nemesis, combat-boot-wearing, death-glaring Sam (Samantha) Zawicki and the rules for the contest, which state that the prize cannot be transferred. Tucker's superhero has the ultimate weapon—stun gas from emitted flatulence—but the boy struggles to uncover within himself the fearless heart of a hero to serve as the model for the key element of his superhero. Harkrader has created superb characters in a story that interweaves Tucker's developing Beanboy comic and other illustrations, such as sticky-note communications between him and his mother. Fans of Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) or Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (Abrams) books will embrace Tucker and his winsome, quirky friends and schoolmates.—Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA