Miracle Wimp

by Erik P. Kraft

Overview

Certain to appeal to boys, Miracle Wimp takes readers on an episodic journey that is sure to keep them laughing. The story follows Tom Mayo as he navigates his way through wood shop, dating, driving, and the meat-headed Donkeys, bullies who are determined to make his life miserable. Filled with humorous details and sardonic wit, Erik Kraft deftly portrays high school through the eyes of a wise-cracking misfit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316052573
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/01/2009
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	830L (what's this?)
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Erik P. Kraft is the award-winning author of the Lenny & Mel books from Simon & Schuster. He lives in Williamsburg, NY, and when he's not writing children's books, he plays in a band and performs stand-up comedy. Check out his website at www.erikpkraft.com

Editorial Reviews

A Captain Underpantsfor the older bunch, Kraft's (Lenny and Mel) comedic riff on male adolescence is as nerdy and hormonally driven as they come. Written like an illustrated journal of sorts with titles for each page-length entry and in often fragmented sentences, the book reads like a haphazard, stream-of-consciousness rant-one 10th-grader's perspective on high school in a small Massachusetts town. "My last name is Mayo, and I can't help but wonder if it were something different, would the Donkeys [the jocks] just ignore me? Maybe. But instead I'm Miracle Wimp," the narrator reports. He comments on everything from the varieties of wedgiesand the tortures of gym class to the difference between the cool kids and the dorks, to the nerves and eventual irritation that accompany his first date, to going to (and actually having fun at) the prom. Kraft rarely dips below the surface on any of these issues, preferring instead to try to see the humor (or the pathos) in it all. While girls may not get into the narrator's sensibility, boys who enjoy series of short takes-especially those infused with slapstick and sarcasm-will find this virtually plotless book a quick and entertaining read. Illustrations not seen by PW. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)

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Publishers Weekly

High school is never easy. But when your last name is Mayo and you've been labeled a nerd and you've been placed in Wood Shop instead of Computer Animation class, it's nearly impossible. Tom Mayo, nicknamed "Miracle Wimp" by the "Donkeys" (meat-headed jocks) at school, has only his snarky humor to help him get by. He makes friends with Rob and Barry at the beginning of the year but learns they are no better than the Donkeys. He survives his driver's test and his first job and even meets a girl he likes enough to brave the phone and ask her out. Unfortunately, Tom finds dating isn't what he expected. Kraft's first for older children is as sly and dry as his Lenny and Mel series for the early-chapte-book crowd. Most of the final art was not seen, but it will be rendered in Kraft's signature block-headed line drawings. The humor, short chapters and drawings will snag reluctant readers, and the outsiders among them will definitely relate. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews

"Refreshing....reluctant readers will be drawn to the book's format."—VOYA

"Very funny."—KLIATT (starred review)

"Perfectly captures the insecurity and self-conesciousness of his age. Often humorous....Easy, engaging reading with a serious side."—Booklist

"Comedic riff on male adolescence....a quick and entertaining read."—Publishers Weekly

"The humor, short chapters and drawings will snag reluctant readers."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher