Return to Planet Tad

June 15, 2014
More tidbits from Planet Tad, compiled from a fictional blog originally published in Mad Magazine (Planet Tad, 2012).Tad's faux blog comes complete with emoticons and line drawings and records the events of January through December as he finishes eighth grade and begins ninth. The nearly daily entries are sometimes silly and sometimes sarcastic. He tries to learn ice skating in January, gets a cellphone (a lame one) for his birthday in March and is blackmailed into starring in the school's production of Our Town by his teacher in April. Many entries are just vaguely humorous observations: Toothpaste should be called "mouthscrub" so it doesn't sound like glue for teeth. No event or topic lasts for more than a few entries. His mean grandmother visits in June, the family attends her wedding in August, and Tad starts high school in September. Part of the team that won six Emmys for The Daily Show, Carvell turns out a second Tad title that, like its predecessor, lacks a central story. It reads, not surprisingly, like something written by a sketch-comedy writer trying for the Wimpy Kid audience. Final art not seen, but Holgate's preliminary illustrations are a highlight.A smile or two for those with severely short attention spans, not much more. (Fiction. 8-12)

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July 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-Tad is now almost 14 in this sequel to Planet Tad (HarperCollins, 2014). This book will make readers laugh out loud uproariously and with no reserve. Tad blogs over the course of a year on his father's computer. He shares stories about his little sister, his parents, and his friends and enemies at school. Tad, like most kids, experiences the ups and downs of adolescence. Through his blog, he shares his thoughts about various subjects, such as the occurrence of blizzards on days when there is no school (a waste of a perfectly good blizzard in his opinion). Each blog entry is accompanied by a matching emoticon. With black-and-white illustrations throughout, this funny offering is sure to delight fans of the Jeff Kinney's "Wimpy Kid." Coming of age is tricky business, but Tad will help readers see the joy in some pretty silly situations.-Katy Charles, Virgil Elementary School, Cortland, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
Grades 4-7 Tad (from Planet Tad, 2012) is back and trying his best to bridge that awkward gap between middle and high school. Picking up his blog with the last half of eighth grade, Tad has got a lot on his plate: his first dance (which you apparently need to ask a girl to), his first kiss (which is happening onstage), his first summer job (which is the worst thing to happen to summer), high school (which is, well, high school), and his first date (which is . . . confusing). Part diary and part stand-up routine, Tad's blog recounts his handling of these obstacles and many others, not necessarily with grace, but with sincere effort. His laugh-out-loud mishaps will resonate with readers approaching early adolescence, who no doubt have encountered similarly sticky situations. Cartoon sketches and Tad's one-off observations about life add even more humor to the book, making for a quick, episodic story ideal for reluctant readers, middle-schoolers, and the Wimpy Kid crowd.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)