Mighty Jack and the Goblin King (Mighty Jack Series #2)

by Ben Hatke

Overview

Like a bolt from the blue, Jack's little sister Maddy is gone—carried into another realm by an ogre.

When Jack and Lilly follow Maddy’s captor through the portal, they are ready for anything . . . except what they find waiting for them in the floating crossroads between worlds. Even the power of their magic plants may not be enough to get them back to earth alive.

Alone and injured, Jack and Lilly must each face their own monsters—as well as giants who grind the bones of human children to feed their “beast” and a fearsome goblin king in the sewers down below.

But when Jack finds himself in a tough spot, help comes from the most unlikely person: the goblin king!

Ben Hatke, the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Zita the Spacegirl, concludes his latest middle-grade fantasy-adventure graphic novel series, Mighty Jack, with the energetic finale to his retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250188151
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Series:	Mighty Jack Series , #2
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	90 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ben Hatke is the author and illustrator of the New York Times–bestselling Zita the Spacegirl trilogy, the picture books Julia's House for Lost Creatures and Nobody Likes a Goblin, and the graphic novels Little Robot and Mighty Jack. He lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley with his wife and their boisterous pack of daughters.

Editorial Reviews

"Expect demand for the next installment to be through the roof; Hatke's brilliant finalscene should elicit audible exclamations from fans of his work. Anotheroutstanding adventure from a master storyteller." —Kirkus, starred review

"The ending is an awesome surprise for Hatke fans, bringing much of his work together in one final scene, and it will ensure they will excitedly wait to follow Jack and co. on their next adventure" —BCCB

"Full-bleedpages with hordes of fantastic monsters rendered in wild, organic shapes, and he further enlivens the story with snappy, comical dialogue." —Booklist

"VERDICT An excitingconclusion to a modern-day take on “Jack and the Beanstalk,” this title is evenstronger than the previous book. Highly recommended for libraries where thefirst installment is popular" —SLJ

From the Publisher

08/01/2017
Gr 4–7—In this follow-up to Mighty Jack, the titular character and his friend Lilly travel through a portal in search of Jack's sister, Maddy, who has been kidnapped by an ogre. The duo are separated and must battle their own monsters, helped along the way by even more winsome and fantastical creatures than in the first volume. The strong character development gives this swashbuckling, imaginative tale an air of authenticity. With each page-turn, Jack and Lilly become more well rounded and complex, and the villains become ever more daunting. The artwork is bright but never garish. Panels are incredibly action-packed but have fairly simple backgrounds, moving the plot along deftly and keeping the focus on the protagonists. Charming, spot-on dialogue personalizes the various creatures. VERDICT An exciting conclusion to a modern-day take on "Jack and the Beanstalk," this title is even stronger than the previous book. Highly recommended for libraries where the first installment is popular.—Kelley Gile, Cheshire Public Library, CT

School Library Journal

★ 2017-06-14
Jack and Lilly return in a new adventure in which they must navigate a fantastic and foreign land to save Jack's autistic sister, Maddy.The story dives in where Mighty Jack (2016) had left off on a breathless cliffhanger, which finds Jack and Lilly emerging through a strange, keyhole-shaped portal in order to save Maddy from a fierce monster. Rather like Alice down the rabbit hole, the kids find themselves in an unfamiliar world where they must climb a tenuous beanstalk and face vicious, biting rats, lovably bumbling goblins, and fearsome giants. Hatke's reimagined fairy tale is a masterpiece that blends all the familiar elements of "Jack and the Beanstalk" with a decidedly fresh eye in a visually arresting graphic format. His art, brilliantly colored by Campbell and Sycamore, is vividly kinetic, taking over with many wordless action scenes that fire off with rocketlike propulsion. Though Hatke's cast is predominantly white, he gives diversity a nod with an autistic main character and defies gender convention when another female character is crowned king. Though Jack is given sole titular credit, he and Lilly share the heroic spotlight in this installment, as she is every bit as mighty and important as he. Expect demand for the next installment to be through the roof; Hatke's brilliant final scene should elicit audible exclamations from fans of his work. Another outstanding adventure from a master storyteller. (Graphic fantasy. 7-14)

Kirkus Reviews