August 14, 2023
Long (the Junior Monster Scouts series) pulls from events in his childhood to deliver an ardent illustrated novel. A month after 10-year-old Benny’s parents’ divorce, Benny and his siblings have been living with their chain-smoking father, who recently learned that he has a lump on his lung. Both parents struggle to manage childcare on top of their own
difficulties; Mom’s new home lacks sufficient sleeping space for all three siblings, and Dad’s cancer diagnosis impacts his ability to be present for his children. The family’s interpersonal tensions result in emotional tumult for Benny, who starts lashing out in moments of intense anger. His parents sign him up for therapy, and as Benny begins being opening about his worries, he comes to terms with the new realities of his life. Dynamic, youthful-feeling pencil drawings by the protagonist—the sun is depicted as a quintessential semicircle on the edge of the page, and tree canopies are rendered using cloud-like shapes—permeate this slice-of-life narrative, allowing readers glimpses into how Benny views his circumstances. The characters’ challenges are realistically handled, and painful moments are balanced with levying humor. Character skin tones reflect the white of the page. Ages 9–14. Agent: Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Management.
Starred review from August 1, 2023
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* In this fictionalized memoir, Long recalls his life as a 10-year-old boy. After a period of anger and arguments, Benny's parents divorce and Mom moves out. Dad can't stop smoking, despite a recent diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. For Benny; his often-bullying, sometimes amusing older brother; and their little sister, household routines become unstable and chaotic. And although Benny attends counselling sessions, he sits silently, unable to talk about his anxiety and loneliness. When his father's condition worsens, Benny punches a classmate. But he makes a breakthrough in counseling, and, with help from a teacher, a friend, and family members, he is ready for his father's death and the increased sense of awareness that follows. As a writer/illustrator, Long is known for his wit, and it emerges in this captivating story as well, particularly in his expressive grayscale drawings, which appear throughout the book. The cartoonlike illustrations keep the tone from becoming unbearably dark, even when the topic is death. Written from Benny's viewpoint, the first-person narrative begins with reflections on who annoys him, but toward the end, he starts reflecting and acting on his own rather than reacting to others. Long's heartening memoir portrays a boy facing challenging situations with hard-won hope and increasing maturity.
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Starred review from September 1, 2023
A fifth grader's tragicomic view of death, divorce, sibling relations, and emotional turmoil. The acrid divorce is the first trauma as middle child Benny sees his plainly incompatible parents split up and his chain-smoking, self-centered dad failing to be a competent single parent. Then a second blow lands, and he must watch his father lose a battle with lung cancer. Meanwhile, in a Wimpy Kid-style mix of first-person narrative and cartoon drawings that adds twists and punchlines, he records his own growing anger issues and, later, therapy sessions. This heavy material is interspersed with less fraught accounts of, for instance, what it's like to get a huge loogie in the face from a big brother, fend off the advances of an overly enthusiastic classmate with a crush, always be the last one picked for street games, and get a ludicrously inappropriate plush toy rather than a coveted bike for Christmas. Long's loosely autobiographical tale is never going to be a happy story, but ultimately the therapy begins to pay off, and a seemingly hostile teacher helps Benny get his schoolwork back up to snuff. Finally, after Benny bids goodbye to his dad at home (where he goes to die) and experiences a rush of big feelings outside the crematorium, the emotional roller coaster glides to a stop in Benny's closer relations with his siblings and dutiful, if not exactly maternal, mom. Most of the cast appears white. Sometimes biting, often intense, and marked by moments both of comical awkwardness and grace. (author's note) (Fiction. 9-12)
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
December 1, 2023
Gr 4-7-A fictionalized coming-of-age story of Long during the 1970s. Benny's parents are going through a divorce, and his father is dying of lung cancer. Benny is struggling at school and is failing in his ability to fall asleep and control his anger. Luckily, he has a best friend who supports him, a teacher who is helping him with fifth grade, and a therapist helping him learn how to navigate the end of his father's life and socializing with his friends. The book is prose interspersed with cartoony black-and-white line drawings dramatizing the events in Benny's life, such as his brother's bullying during dinner time, father's failing health, and mother's moving into her new home. The people illustrated look mostly white, reflecting the community that Benny Brooks lives in. The book's tactful handling of mental health and therapy is balanced, respectful, and representative of the actual process; blame is not placed on the child, but a framework is given that places Benny's mental health issues at the nexus of multiple traumatic life events compounding one another. VERDICT Recommended purchase for libraries seeking nuanced depictions of divorce, death in the family, and trauma.-Vi Ha
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