The Odds #1

by Matt Stanton, Matt Stanton (Illustrator)

Overview

From the bestselling author of the Funny Kid series, Matt Stanton, comes The Odds, the start of a hilarious and heartwarming graphic novel series about identity, imagination, and the joy of discovering who you really are.

Kip is a quiet kid in a loud city. She's easy to miss and that's the way she likes it. Then one day Kip's quiet life is suddenly interrupted. Ten of her favorite characters have stepped out of their worlds and into hers.

But what happens when a dragon-hunting rabbit leaves his comic strip? When an old man leaves his picture book? When a ninja leaves her TV show, a race-car driver leaves their video game, and a dinosaur turns up from Kip's nightmares?

It’s a hilariously touching graphic novel from all-star author Matt Stanton about finding friendships and the fears of growing up.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063068940
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/04/2022
Series:	Odds , #1
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	521,754
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Matt Stanton is a bestselling children’s author and illustrator who has sold more than one million books worldwide. Matt lives and works in Sydney, Australia, with his wife, bestselling author Beck Stanton, and their children. You can visit him online at mattstanton.net.

Matt Stanton is a bestselling children’s author and illustrator who has sold more than one million books worldwide. Matt lives and works in Sydney, Australia, with his wife, bestselling author Beck Stanton, and their children. You can visit him online at mattstanton.net.

Editorial Reviews

12/13/2021

Without any friends at school, young Kip avoids her classmates, imagining herself invisible, and dreads Ms. O’s project to present what makes her unique. But when a small army of fictional characters—including Lance the bunny, the star of her father’s comic, and Mr. Pink, a re-creation of the long-lost stuffed toy Kip’s late mother gave her—spring from Kip’s mind, their assertive personalities (“We don’t hide,” they write when Kip and her father, who both have brown skin, attempt to lock them away) challenge Kip to embrace herself just as she is. In this graphic novel debut, seasoned picture book creator Stanton conjures poignant moments amid a repetitive, meandering plot. Simple, straightforward line art, dominated by head-on shots, creates a quick read—reminiscent of gag-focused works such as the Catwad series—that promises a lesson about embracing oneself and becomes a story of strengthening bonds via mutual grief. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

“An oddly satisfying story.” — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2021-11-16
In this first installment in Stanton’s new graphic-novel series, a young girl is forced to deal with repressed memories and emotions when fantasy and reality collide.

Kip, a quirky and insecure introvert, lives in an apartment in a noisy city with her cartoonist dad who is also a widower. One day, she wakes up to find a slew of strange visitors in her bedroom. There’s a rabbit, a ninja, a pigtailed soccer girl, a dinosaur, a unicorn, and a rooster with a pitchfork, to name a few. Kip recognizes them as fictional characters from TV shows, video games, her dad’s comic strips, and even her nightmares. She introduces the characters to her dad—who is distracted and struggling with a creative block—much to his alarm. Leaving the unusual visitors at home, Kip goes to school, where her teacher drops a reminder—next Thursday will be Kip’s turn to get up in front of the class and talk about what makes her unique. Kip doesn’t think there’s anything particularly special about her, but she has bigger things to worry about. As she and her dad deal with the fictional characters’ shenanigans and try to figure out how to get them back to their worlds, they find themselves opening up to each other about her mother’s death, and Kip comes to realize exactly what makes her special. Stanton writes with a fine balance of humor and pathos and uses simple geometric shapes to render his large-eyed characters. Kip and her father are brown skinned. Other characters are racially diverse, and one of Kip’s classmates wears a hijab.

Nuanced explorations of grief and self-discovery temper all the weirdness in this odd—and oddly satisfying—story. (Graphic novel. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews