Curse of the Red Scorpion

Grade 2-5 Graphic novel meets hi-lo reader in these three hyperkinetic entries aimed at reluctant readers. In Scorpion, Mitchell is bored on a museum field trip until the guide relates a legend connected with a jeweled statue: if you dream about the Red Scorpion, it will come for you. After a terrifying nightmare, the boy is convinced that the evil effigy is really haunting him. In Zombies, Trevor returns from a restroom break to find that a mad-scientist substitute teacher has hypnotized the rest of the class into homework-loving drones. The only way to cure his friends, Trevor reasons, is to un-brainwash them with the complete opposite of school video games, mindless television, and junk food. In Snapped, Tom, Willy, and Grace plan a Mother’s Day surprise while Mom is out. They try painting their room (bright blue), bathing the dog (with Mom’s favorite perfume), and baking chocolate-chip cookies (until the bowl tips over). By the time their mother returns, chaos reigns. These graphic short stories feature raucous humor and brief, undemanding plot action, told almost entirely in dialogue. The books are designed in comic-book style, with splashy cover art, illustration panels, speech balloons, and graphic sound words (SPLAT!). The flat cartoon pictures are amusing but not particularly distinguished. An additional purchase where there is an especially high demand for lower-level graphic fiction.– “School Library Journal”

Born in 1962 in Denver, Colorado, Scott Nickel works by day at Paws, inc., Jim Davis’s famous Garfield studio, and he freelances by night. Burning the midnight oil, Scott has created hundreds of humorous greeting cards and written several children’s books, short fiction for “Boys’ Life” magazine, comic strips, and lots of really funny knock-knock jokes. He was raised in southern California, but in 1995 Scott moved to Indiana, where he currently lives with his wife, two sons, six cats, and several sea monkeys. Steve Harpster has loved to draw funny cartoons, mean monsters, and goofy gadgets since he was able to pick up a pencil. In first grade, he avoided writing assignments by working on the pictures for stories instead. Steve was able to land a job drawing funny pictures for books, and that’s really what he’s best at. Steve lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wonderful wife, Karen, and their sheepdog, Doodle.