Middle school mayhem

With Nikki Russell. Immediately following his first journal-style book (Locker Hero), middle-school geek Max recounts his attempts to stop a trio of dopey burglars from stealing the school's computers. Meanwhile, Max's crush, Erin, remotely hacks the building's security system to provide assistance. Despite the book's repetitive, over-the-top Home Alonetype clashes with the robbers, tween readers will enjoy this wacky school adventure, decorated with manga-style drawings. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Max Crumbly is back, blundering through his second misadventure. When readers last saw the white middle schooler, he had just plunged out of the school's "vast, labyrinth-like" ventilation system onto the pizza ordered by the three bumbling, white crooks who have taken advantage of the three-day weekend to execute the most incompetent computer heist ever. They are fortunate that it's dimwitted Max who's locked in with them. Unbeknownst to them, however, his new, smart friend Erin, also white, is on the phone with Max and has hacked her way into the school computer and now controls all its systems. With Erin's help, it should be easy for Max to thwart the crime, retrieve his father's precious comic book, and escape the building. Alas, it is not. As in series opener Locker Hero (2016), Max's journal provides a play-by-play of the episode (including cartoons of scenes he could not have witnessed), elongated by digressions and larded with vomit and excrement jokes. Also as before, Max's faux hand-lettered account features cross-outs and emendations that make little to no sense. A couple of well-paced cartoon-only sequences offer effective (if gross) slapstick, but they cannot compensate for the overall unfunniness of the caper. Kids who want to see this sort of adventure done well should opt for Varian Johnson's Jackson Greene books; kids who are charmed by puke jokes may find this mildly diverting. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 2 1. FROM HERO BACK TO ZERO I knew middle school was going to be challenging, but I never expected to end up DEAD in the computer lab, wearing a SUPERHERO COSTUME, with four slices of PIZZA stuck to my BUTT! My morning actually started out pretty normal. . . . Hey, I'm NOT stupid! I KNEW I wasn't superhero material! But that never stopped me from staring in the mirror and wishing . . . . . . that one day an average kid like me could actually make a difference. You know, do something great! Yeah, right! WHO was I kidding?! My situation was HOPELESS! I could never change the world. . . . But then I had a brilliant idea! Just maybe, I could CHANGE the MAN in the mirror! HOW? . . . By using my knowledge of anatomy, my awesome drawing skills . . . AND AN ENTIRE TUBE OF TOOTHPASTE!! Yeah, you're right. I guess you could call me kind of . . . WEIRD! But it's all GOOD! Most of the famous superheroes and infamous villains are ALSO a little disturbed. So I like to think of it as untapped potential. You're probably sitting there wondering HOW I managed to create such a HUMONGOUS MESS (I mean the mess at my school, NOT the mess in my bathroom). It all started when Doug Thug Thurston shoved me into my LOCKER after school. Unfortunately, I was trapped inside there for HOURS!! I'm not going to lie to you! I totally FREAKED! But give me a break! I was all alone. In a dark and creepy school building. Locked INSIDE my locker. For possibly an ENTIRE THREE-DAY WEEKEND! Honestly, dude! YOU would have freaked out too! Anyway, after what seemed like forever, I finally managed to escape through the ventilation system. But as I was passing the computer lab, I accidentally stumbled upon three burglars in the process of stealing the school's brand-new computers! It was SURREAL! I started thinking about how I'm such a LOSER that kids at school call me BARF because I accidentally threw up my oatmeal on Thug's shoe in PE class. Sorry, but if you had seen those pus-filled ZITS on his face up close, you would have thrown up too! Anyway, I FINALLY had the chance to completely CHANGE my pathetic life. HOW?! By stopping the burglars and saving the school's computers while at the same time impressing Erin, president of the computer club! But don't get it TWISTED! It's not like I'm crushing on her or something! I BARELY know the girl!! And then, B O O M ! ! My rep would BLOW UP, and I'd instantly go from ZERO to HERO! SWEET!! This, my friends, is the very STRANGE but TRUE tale of how I fought EVIL and INJUSTICE in the DANK, DARK, DANGEROUS halls of South Ridge Middle School. I've documented every detail in my journal, The Misadventures of Max Crumbly, which I keep with me wherever I go. So let's pick up right where I left off in my last entry. . . . I had just outsmarted those bungling burglars and was BLASTING through my school like a rocket to go exchange intel by cell phone with my trusty sidekick, Erin! . . . ME, AS MIGHTY MAX, BLASTING THROUGH THE SCHOOL!! ERIN, MY SUPERHERO BFF! Okay, I'll admit I may have exaggerated a little. This is what REALLY happened. . . . Excerpted from Middle School Mayhem by Rachel Renée Russell All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.