K Is in Trouble (A Graphic Novel)

by Gary Clement

Overview

"Visual storytelling at the highest level" — The New York Times Book Review

A boy named K must navigate a world of outrageously unkind adults in this hysterical, Kafkaesque middle grade graphic novel, with art reminiscent of James Marshall.

K is nice, polite, and always does as he’s told. K is also always, always in trouble.

No matter what he does or says, it seems there is someone ready to blame him for everything. K is in trouble for going to school. K is in trouble for staying home. K is in trouble for running an errand, getting sick, or just being thirsty. K gets into trouble with imperious crows, persnickety station agents, bombastic teachers, his own classmates...even one nice fresh carp.

Whether it’s his easily annoyed parents or prickly pedestrians on the street, K gets on everyone’s bad side…and he didn’t even do anything wrong!
 
Gary Clement takes a unique approach to the absurdities of childhood in this hilarious series opener that reinforces a timeless message: Most adults know less than a talking beetle.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316468633
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	01/16/2024
Series:	K Is in Trouble , #1
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	168 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 12 Years

About the Author

Gary Clement is a Canadian artist, cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. He’s the author and illustrator of several children’s books, among them The Great Poochini, which earned Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award in Children’s Literature—Illustration, and most recently illustrated My Winter City, written by James Gladstone. His illustrations have appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and many other newspapers and magazines across North America. K Is in Trouble is his debut graphic novel.

Editorial Reviews

"K is my new favorite hero, and my new favorite letter of the alphabet. If you like this book, then you are a wonderful person, and if you don't, then something is wrong with you."—Lemony Snicket

“Even the happiest boys and girls know what it is to be buffeted about by adults…The universality of this experience, which, depending on the adult caprice, can feel like the most acute injustice, gives resonance to K Is in Trouble."—The Wall Street Journal

"If there’s a young existentialist in your life, get them a copy of 'K Is in Trouble.'" —The Washington Post

"The strange humor and often advanced vocabulary, such as 'interminable' and 'intransigent,' will remind readers of Lemony Snicket."—School Library Journal

*"Clement’s debut graphic novel makes a good case that this age group could find great relevance, at least, in those things we’ve come to call 'Kafkaesque'...A truly unique effort that will become a deeply resonant touchstone for anyone who recognizes in it the occasional strangeness of their world."—Booklist, starred review

*“That Clement never bows to the demands of feel-goodery – or explains away the endless absurdities K must face – is one of the most pleasing, and paradoxically realistic aspects of these weird, wonderful tales.”—Quill and Quire, starred review

“Odd mishaps and hostile grown-ups plague a lonely child in this set of surreal episodes…channeling the spirit of Franz Kafka in the plot and the gothic sensibility of Edward Gorey in the art.”—Kirkus Reviews

“In each of five graphic short stories, Clement presents a situation of powerlessness, oppression, or ennui in which K encounters a small moment of grace…a sympathetic and respectful portrait of the condition of being a child, a condition as familiar now as then.”—The Horn Book

“K is indeed in trouble—in more ways than one—in this quirky, subversive graphic novel.” —BCCB

“Overall, wickedly funny, a little wacky and with tons of slapstick humour, K is in Trouble is recommended for library collections.”—Canadian Review of Materials

From the Publisher

05/24/2024

Gr 4–6—Across five short stories, readers follow the day-to-day adventures of a young boy named K. K is surrounded by adults who don't seem to understand children—from what they eat for breakfast (certainly not "sardines swimming in oil") to the accidents that can disrupt the best laid plans. In each chapter, K gets in trouble for something he didn't do or that was out of his control, such as a search for his teacher's missing glasses, leading to him being abandoned by his class at a train station. Clement's use of soft colors, with an emphasis on browns and greys, creates a bleak setting that adds to the Kafka inspirations drizzled through each short tale. While most young readers won't recognize the Kafka connections, they will recognize K's inability to please the adults around him. The art is painted through a child's eyes, with K surrounded by tall, endless file cabinets and spaces that just seem more empty and dire-seeming as time drags on. The strange humor and often advanced vocabulary, such as "interminable" and "intransigent," will remind readers of Lemony Snicket. VERDICT While not every young reader will recognize the nods to Kafka, this book certainly will have its fans.—Annamarie Carlson

School Library Journal

2023-10-07
Odd mishaps and hostile grown-ups plague a lonely child in this set of surreal episodes.

Channeling the spirit of Franz Kafka in the plot and the gothic sensibility of Edward Gorey in the art, Clement alternately strands tiny schoolboy K in large, sparsely furnished rooms or sends him ricocheting through crowds of forbidding adults in finely drawn belle epoque urban settings. After skipping a breakfast of grayish porridge and sardines “swimming in oil,” then being left for eons in an empty waiting room at school by harsh Frau Headmistress Z, K meets a friendly talking bug. Another day, when he’s home alone, a flock of crows bursts in to wreck the apartment. His miseries continue as he finds himself abandoned on a class outing, accused of theft and chased by crowds of passersby—including dogs and cats—after venturing to the market, and unjustly blamed for waking up all his neighbors after he locks himself out on a snowy night. Despite the calamities, shouting adults, and lonely moments, it’s not all existential gloom—K does get a free afternoon, for instance, thanks to the bug that frightens Herr Principal Y into evacuating school. Still, there’s little relief in the general run of dismal events. Readers may have difficulty seeing K as anything but a powerless victim, despite hints of at least a lively sense of curiosity and a modicum of resilience. The cast appears white.

A series opener with niche appeal. (Graphic fantasy. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews