The Drained Brains Caper (Chicagoland Detective Agency Series #1)

by Trina Robbins, Tyler Page (Illustrator)

Overview

Raf knows Megan is trouble from the moment she steps into his mom's pet food store asking for a tarantula. But there's one thing you can count on in Chicagoland: weird things happen several times a day.

Megan is a vegetarian, manga-reading haiku writer. She definitely doesn't fit in at Stepford Academy, her new summer school. The other students are happy to be in class. Too happy. And everyone looks and acts exactly alike. That's weird.

Megan is determined to dig into Stepford's secrets, but soon she's in way too deep. Raf may be the only human being she knows who can help. But with zombified students, very mad scientists, and the school psychiatrist on their trail, they're going to need a whole lot more help.

We did say that Chicagoland is weird. . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761356356
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/2010
Series:	Chicagoland Detective Agency Series , #1
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	GN570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Writer and feminist herstorian Trina Robbins wrote books, comics, and graphic novels for over 40 years. Her work includes The Brinkley Girls (Fantagraphics), Forbidden City: the Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs (Hampton Press), and the three-part YA series Chicagoland Detective Agency for Graphic Universe™.

Tyler Page is an Eisner-nominated and Xeric Grant-winning artist and educator. He illustrated the Graphic Universe series The Chicagoland Detective Agency. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, author/illustrator Cori Doerrfeld, and their two children.

Editorial Reviews

"The crisp black and white artwork is appealing, and the writing is just edgy enough to entice middle-schoolers." —Library Media Connection

From the Publisher

Thirteen-year-old Megan Yamamura is new in Chicagoland. She had a bit of trouble in her last school when she accidentally set off the sprinkler system (burning a haiku written to a boy who wasn't worth it). Now she attends the Stepford Preparatory Academy, where the kids are a bit too smiley. When Megan, a vegetarian, refuses to eat the swill served in the school cafeteria (and kind of starts a food fight), her father takes her to see psychiatrist Dr. Vorschak. However, Dr. Vorschak's not what she appears to be; soon Megan is in dire need of assistance. Good thing she made one near-friend in Raf Hernandez, who works at his mother's pet-supply store. Together with talking dog Bradley, who learned English from watching detective movies, the newly christened Chicagoland Detective Agency solves the case! Underground-comix icon Robbins pens a passable origin story for the first volume of this new series, and Page's manga-influenced black-and-white panels are a good match. With the setup accomplished, readers can hope that now the actual mysteries can begin. (Graphic mystery. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews