Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

My Life as a Cartoonist

The My Life series Series, Book 3

#3 in series

ebook
0 of 0 copies available
0 of 0 copies available

Derek Fallon's well-intentioned plan to help a new classmate takes a hilarious and unexpected turn in this engaging middle grade novel.
There's a new kid in Derek Fallon's class. His name is Umberto and he uses a wheelchair. With his family still fostering Frank the monkey, Derek thinks it would be great to train Frank to assist Umberto. But he quickly realizes that Umberto is definitely not looking for any help. Instead, Derek becomes the target of Umberto's jokes and finds his cartoon ideas being stolen and claimed as Umberto's own. Caught in an awkward predicament, Derek must find a way out of this mess before he becomes the laughingstock of school. The solution may lie in his own cartoon strip—SUPER FRANK!
My Life as a Cartoonist, the third book in the popular "My Life . . ." series, features illustrations by Janet Tashjian's son, Jake Tashjian. This humorous chapter book is perfect for reluctant readers and tackles themes of friendship, disabilities, bullying, and finding one's voice in a realistic middle school setting.

  • Creators

  • Series

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Accessibility

    The publisher provides the following statement about the accessibility of the EPUB file supplied to OverDrive. Experiences may vary across reading systems. After borrowing the book, you may download the EPUB files to read in another reading system.

    Ways Of Reading

    • No information about appearance modifiability is available.

    • Not all of the content will be readable as read aloud speech or dynamic braille.

    Conformance

    • No information is available.

  • Languages

  • Levels

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      April 1, 2013
      Cartoonist Derek grapples with a perplexing association between disability and bullying in this stand-alone sequel to My Life as a Book (2010) and My Life as a Stuntboy (2011). Derek has two best friends at school and two beloved critters at home, including Frank, a capuchin monkey who's practicing family life before training as a service animal. Frank's the model for Derek's comic, Super Frank. Drawing's a fun challenge; reading's a difficult chore, though the stick-figure cartoons with which Derek illustrates his vocabulary words enliven the margins. Each playful sketch portrays a word from the adjacent paragraph but in an amusingly different context--"ingenious" shows up as a cupcake machine. Derek's life takes a turn for the worse when transfer-student Umberto targets him. Umberto steals Derek's cartoon ideas and makes him a "verbal punching bag." The bullying arc is fairly standard, but the bully isn't, at least physically: Umberto uses a wheelchair. On one hand, Tashjian creates a real anti-stereotype in this speedy wheeling boy who could (and would) easily crush Derek with a lacrosse stick if teachers weren't around. However, after the boys bond, Derek's funny narrative voice ("Frank's fur is now covered in a helmet of peanut butter") indulges in a few adult-sounding, rose-colored disability cliches, saying that Umberto possesses "honesty and grace" and "inspires me." This entertaining read leaves some provoking questions unanswered--usefully. (Fiction. 9-12)

      COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      June 1, 2013
      Grades 5-7 Derek Fallonthe underachiever star of two funny, perceptive booksreturns, and this time he meets his match in Umberto, a new student who is in a wheelchair. At first it seems as if the two could be friends. Derek's family is even training a capuchin monkey to be a service animal, and he can't wait to tell Umberto about it. But after their first conversation, Derek realizes that sarcastic, flip Umberto doesn't like him. In trying to defend himself, Derek is soon perceived as the kid bullying the boy in the wheelchair! Worst of all, Umberto is a cartoonist like Derek, but better. If all the Umberto travails weren't enough, Derek's crush, Carly, has started a relationship with an older boy, Crash. As with the other titles in the My Life As series, Tashjian's son, Jake, provides the stick figures acting out the more difficult words and concepts. Great for reluctant readers (like Derek), this also neatly twists the bullying theme, offering discussion possibilities. Fans of the series (and of the Wimpy Kid and Charlie Joe Jackson) will like this one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

    • The Horn Book

      July 1, 2013
      Derek becomes the target of handicapped new-kid Umberto's bullying, adding to Derek's dislike of school. Even worse, Derek's passion for cartooning plays into the harassment. His parents and friends try to help, but ultimately Derek solves his own problem. A fast-moving plot, sympathetic (human and animal) characters, and cartoon marginalia offer something for everyone in Derek's third likable outing.

      (Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5.3
  • Lexile® Measure:860
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

Loading