What Happens Next?: Science Fair Frenzy

by Jess Smart Smiley

Overview

In the second volume of the What Happens Next? graphic novel series, YOU decide whether Sunbright Middle School's science fair is a success— or if it all goes up in flames!

Megan Hathaway came to Sunbright Middle School’s Science and Invention Fair expecting to have fun—she and her friend Charlotte had prepared a presentation on crow calls, and their table gave her a great view of her crush, Dillon. But for some reason, everything is going wrong.

There are lemons all over the hallways, Megan’s parents insist on embarrassing her, and there are rumors that the monstrous Sunbright Muck Man is on the hunt! Can YOU help Megan get through this day with her dignity and her life?! With over 25 different parallel realities to explore in Science Fair Frenzy, there’s gotta be at least one where Megan gets a happy ending…right*?!

*We cannot confirm the existence of a happy ending in Science Fair Frenzy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250889645
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	06/20/2023
Series:	What Happens Next?
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,101,972
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.95(h) x 0.55(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Jess Smart Smiley is a joke—seriously.

He makes rad pictures with his bare hands and has helped thousands of children, teens, and adults around the world to create their first comics.

Jess is the creator of Let's Make Comics!: An Activity Book to Create, Write, and Draw Your Own Cartoons. He loves sharing his passion for writing, drawing, and storytelling with schools, libraries, bookstores, and students of all ages and skill levels.

Editorial Reviews

2023-04-12
Megan and classmate Charlotte have entered a project in the middle school science fair—but will it all go smoothly?

Megan just experienced a school talent show in all its various wonders and horrors in the series opener, What Happens Next?: Talent Show Troubles (2023). Now readers get to make choices to guide her through Sunbright Middle School’s science and invention fair. The opening premise seems straightforward enough, but vice principal Mr. Fisher is looking for Megan, and readers need to decide: Should she stay and see what he wants or hide and try to meet Charlotte at their table? The adventures and mishaps begin. Using the choose-your-own-adventure format, readers can repeat opening steps, then make different choices to see how it affects the outcome. The book offers over 100 paths, but there are around 25 distinct endings, so they can end up with the same outcome via different routes. The different scenarios include experiencing an exciting crush, being suspended from school, enduring an attack by gulls, and having an alien encounter. Panels of art in vibrant colors and varied fonts exaggerate the action, sustaining readers’ interest. An appendix offers instructions for drawing a couple of the characters. Most main characters read White; one classmate has brown skin and black “springy hair.”

Zany and true to middle schoolers’ emotional experiences. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews