The Secret Spiral of Swamp Kid

Gr 3-6–This is the scientific journal (not diary) of middle school student Russell Weinwright. Lined notebook pages are filled with text and doodles. Russell wants to be an average kid and dreams of being a graphic novelist one day, but he is part human and part vegetation, which means that he looks unusual. He has webbed toes, tendrils on his face, and a “duckweed hairdo,” and he is constantly dripping. Russell enjoys eating pizza, but he also consumes sunlight. Russell, his friend Charlotte, and an inquisitive boy named Preston join forces to investigate what’s going on in the swamp near the school—the same swamp where Russell was discovered when he was a baby. What they find leads to new revelations about the remains of an old science lab, Swamp Thing, and Russell’s developing superpowers. The artwork is colorful and cartoony, with appealing visual gags.