I'm sure we've all met people who talk in chirpy explanation marks!įor anyone who wants to take a look at the NYT review, here's the link: I suppose it would be nice to have a stronger girl character, but Peggy is awfully funny. I did have to roll my eyes when the reviewer said Squish wasn't sufficiently scientific when it said that some microscopic organisms are "pure evil." Hello-what about those Twinkies? The science is thrown in as a bonus, but the storytelling here is all imaginary, and all about school and kids! I hadn't realized the last Babymouse book introduced the Squish series. Well, I agree that Squish needs a bit more plot, as it reads like an introduction to the setting and characters, but I do think it's promising. Wow!Īnd Mary Ann, I looked up the NYT review. Holm has won three Newbery honor awards for her historical fiction.
Squish book series#
In fact, Super Amoeba feels a bit bland in comparison to Babymouse, but I'm curious to see how the series builds in future books. I will just note that it reads a tad younger than the Babymouse series, at least in this first outing. Some second graders will need an explanation of the setting and the single-celled nature of the characters, but otherwise, this series promises to be a nice option for fans of Jarrett Krosoczka's Lunch Lady books. And the Holms throw in quite a lot of science info along the way. The plot is not particularly complex, but then, this book mostly introduces the characters and sets us up for further adventures. Squish's highlight color is pond-scum green, appropriately enough.
For Babymouse, it's pink (well, orange on Halloween). As in the Babymouse books, the strong black lines are highlighted with a single color. Matthew Holm's artwork is cheerful and clean. This is the stem, these are the roots, this is the blah-blah-blah," the narrator's arrow-boxed remark is "What's with the blah-blah-blah?"Īdding further dimension to the storyline, Squish is a big fan of a comic book superhero named Super Amoeba, and we are given excerpts from the comics he reads (sometimes classically concealing them inside of his schoolbooks). Rotifer says, "Now we're going to discuss the plant. Here the narrator is also pretty participatory and even metacognitive (or metacommentative!). You may recall that in the Babymouse books, the narrator chimes in on a regular basis, alternately addressing readers and the main character, while Babymouse sometimes talks back to him. Rotifer, while the mean kids in the detention room include E. So Squish eats Twinkies and goes to school, but his principal is a flatworm named Mr.
This occasionally strains credibility, but then, I'm pretty sure you won't care because the whole thing is clever and fun. There's a sort of mind-bending meld of everyday kid and microscopic pond life here. I got a new slime mold!!! The cutest ever!!! I named him Fluffy!!! You guys want to see him after school?!?!" Peggy thinks everything is cute and nice and sweet, up to and including the school bully who threatens in all seriousness to devour her. Squish's other (sort of) sidekick is a "girl" named Peggy, she of the eyelashes and overly optimistic smile.
When science genius and major lunch money mooch Pod says, "The fate of the world rests on my shoulders," Squish points out, "You don't have shoulders." Helpful arrows go on to add that Pod has no ears, no nose, no butt, and no shame, as well. Of course, every as piring superhero and plain old kid needs sidekicks: Squish's best friend is a "guy" named Pod. (At first glance, the hat logo appears to be a simple smiley face a closer look shows the hat's expression changing depending on the action-a nice little in-joke.) Of course, how in the heck do you turn a one-celled organism into an appealing hero? The dynamic Holm siblings show us how it's done: give your amoeba a great name and pop a baseball hat on him. So I've been looking forward to the launch of their new Super Amoeba graphic novel series. I am a big fan of this duo's Babymouse books, which are a great pick for reluctant girl readers and girls in general ages 8-11.
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