Squint

by Chad Morris, Shelly Brown

Overview

The hero of my comic books can shoot lasers from his eyes when he squints. But it might not be enough to save the Empress. What he'll need most of all is a friend named Diamond Girl.

Flint loves to draw. In fact, he’s furiously trying to finish his comic book so he can be the youngest winner of the “Find a Comic Star” contest. He’s also rushing to finish because he has an eye disease that could eventually make him blind.

At school, Flint meets McKell. She's new girl  and doesn't seem to have trouble making friends. She does have a problem with how some of her new friends treat this boy they call "Squint." He seems nice and really talented. He also seems like the kind of person who wouldn't laugh at you. That's important, because McKell has hidden talents of her own but is worried about what will happen if she shares them.

Squint is the inspiring story of two new friends dealing with their own challenges, who learn to trust each other, believe in themselves, and begin to truly see what matters most.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982575830
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	10/02/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Chad Morris grew up wanting to become a professional basketball player or a rock star. Neither of those plans quite panned out, so he wrote and performed sketch comedy while going to college. Now he’s a teacher and a writer.

Shelly Brown loves to write books for children. In her spare time, she enjoys the theater and traveling. In addition to her five children, she has three chickens and sixty-four Pez dispensers.

Their previous book is Mustaches for Maddie.
 

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Squint and RockChapter 2 - The RulesChapter 3 - McKellChapter 4 - SomethingChapter 5 - Grandma and GrandpaChapter 6 - The DealChapter 7 - DiamondChapter 8 - The Coolest Thing in the WoodsChapter 9 - DannyChapter 10 - TornChapter 11 - PatchChapter 12 - ThursdayChapter 13 - KeratoplastyChapter 14 - UnwrappedChapter 15 - OffChapter 16 - An Almost SuperpowerChapter 17 - From the DeadChapter 18 - Challenge AcceptedChapter 19 - ComedyChapter 20 - Another ChallengeChapter 21 - EyeChapter 22 - BuzzChapter 23 - TextingChapter 24 - My HouseChapter 25 - MissChapter 26 - AuditionsChapter 27 - A Crying BushChapter 28 - RejectionChapter 29 - The FightChapter 30 - More Than I DidChapter 31 - InvincibleChapter 32 - A FavorChapter 33 - Talent AssemblyChapter 34 - Spaghetti and a LetterChapter 35 - The Final ChallengeChapter 36 - A New ComicChapter 37 - Sent

Editorial Reviews

Narrator Kirby Heyborne nimbly conveys a range of emotions as he narrates the story of 13-year-old Squint. Heyborne tenderly portrays awkward but impassioned Squint, with his impossibly thick glasses and nerdy comic book obsession. Having withdrawn from school life, Squint finds a surprising friend in McKell, a troubled new girl who challenges him to experiment, explore, and go adventuring. Heyborne communicates Squint’s complex inner life, from his initial introspection to the implacable confidence that he wields at the story’s close. Heyborne’s exquisite rendering of Squint’s sorrow when faced with unimaginable loss is affecting and authentic. Listeners will be captivated by this unlikely hero and will cheer him on as he boldly faces his deepest fears and inspires forgiveness and bravery in those around him. S.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2018 - AudioFile

"Pulls off the seemingly impossible; it is an empathy-building novel with a message that's fun to read. Flint is a sharply observant narrator. He is self-deprecatingly humorous rather than self-pitying, and he easily embodies the secret freakishness that many teens feel.  Despite the book's dual medical issues, this is not a "sick kid" book...it sends a strong message about making the most of what you have. The writing is perfectly tuned, trusting its audience enough not to hammer at its main themes. With its sophisticated themes and thoroughly likable main character, Squint takes on a lot and delivers beyond expectations."

Foreword Reviews

nominee 2021, Grades 6-8
 

Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award

2020-2021 Nominee in grades 4-6 category

Missouri Mark Twain Award

nominee 2021

Arizona Grand Canyon Reader Award

2019 nominee for grades 3-5

Ohio Buckeye Children's Book Award

"This is the perfect read for the middle grader who is struggling to figure his/her place out in the social department of life. The book does a really good job of helping one to see that everyone’s lives are not as perfect as they may appear on the outside. It also illustrates that the perspective you choose to see people may be just that – your perspective and there may be an alternate perspective to the situation. The take away point of the book is: “ … a person could be different, look different, have struggles, make mistakes, and still have so much to offer.”
 

Compass Book Ratings

10/01/2018
Gr 5–7—Sixth grader Flint (aka Squint) is feverishly trying to finish making his comic book in order to enter it in the "Find a Comic Star" contest. Due to a genetic eye disease, keratoconus, he wears thick glasses and has double, sometimes triple or quadruple, vision. Flint, who lives with his grandparents, spends most of his time alone working on his comic book. When McKell, a new girl at school and part of the popular group, sits with him at lunch, he's wary at first, but she seems genuine. She invites him to take a hike after school and talks about her brother Danny's YouTube videos where he posts challenges asking people to push themselves and try new things. After Flint tears his cornea and has surgery, he sees better than he has in years, a cause for celebration until he sees his comic more clearly and realizes that it isn't as good as he thought. He quits drawing, but after Danny dies of heart disease, a consequence of having progeria, a disease where you prematurely age, he works with McKell to fulfill Danny's last challenge, a chance for them both to achieve their dreams. Flint and McKell are sympathetic protagonists with relatable concerns and issues. The challenges of middle school are leavened with humor through the "Middle School Rules" sprinkled throughout the story. The use of the comic book as a metaphor for Flint's experiences would have been more impactful if it had been shown as the actual comic rather than written as text. This small flaw aside, this is a moving story about friendship, loss, and seeing life from other people's point of view. VERDICT Recommended for any library serving middle grade readers.—Kefira Phillipe, Nichols Middle School, Evanston, IL

School Library Journal

2018-07-24

Thirteen-year-old Flint, aka "Squint," is determined to finish his comic book in time to enter it in a contest—and before he loses so much more of his eyesight that he can no longer see to draw.

Squint has a degenerative corneal disease that has left him with thick glasses that do little to correct his vision but make him a magnet for bullying by popular kids. When popular McKell reaches out to him, his first reaction is to protect himself by rejecting her. But then he discovers that she's dealing with plenty herself; her older brother, Danny, has progeria, a rare disease that's killing him. Danny has a popular YouTube channel in which he suggests challenges or activities designed to bring people together. After his death, the videos keep coming, serving, poignantly, to draw McKell and Squint closer as he gradually emerges from his self-imposed isolation. Squint's comic-book tale accompanies and parallels his first-person narration, crafting a fantasy world where Squint can be the superhero of his dreams. But it's the drawing of the comics that presents the greatest challenge to him with his poor vision. The book assumes a white default, with Squint assumed white and biracial McKell half-Filipina and presumably half-white. That Squint's drawings are not included seems like a major missed opportunity to broaden this sometimes-maudlin tale of loss and redemption.

In spite of its predictability, likely to find an appreciative audience among young teens. (Fiction. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews