Description
Temporarily out of stock
Title: Mighty Jack: 1 Mighty Jack: Graphic Novel
Author: HATKE BEN
Illustrator: CAMPBELL ALEX/SYCAMORE HILARY (COLOURISATION)
Format: PAPERBACK
Publication date: 11/10/2016
Imprint: FIRST SECOND
Price: $25.00
Publishing status: Active
Publishers Weekly (07/18/2016):
In Hatkeas reworking of aJack and the Beanstalk, a Jack must care for his younger sister, Maddy, while his single mother holds down two jobs over the summer. Maddy doesnat speak, but sheas entranced by the magic seeds she and Jack pick up from a shady dealer at a flea market, in exchange for their motheras car keys. Once they plant them, their home-schooled, sword-wielding neighbor Lilly is curious about their new garden, tooa a little too curious. Hatke (“Little Robot” revels in drawing the fantasy plants: green hands that reach out and grab, tiny onion-headed creatures, melons with teeth. Jack and Lilly argue about how to handle them: aThese plants are dangerous!a he protests. aOpen your eyes, Jack, a Lilly retorts. aJust because somethingas dangerous doesnat make it evil.a Thereas action and menace aplenty, including a dragon whose ferocity only Maddy can quell, and flashes of intimacy, too, as when Jackas motheras anger melts into compassion as she sees her son in tears, or when Maddy suddenly speaks. Jackas desperate efforts to juggle the needs of three complex female characters drive this sensitive retelling. The cliffhanger ending promises a sequel. Ages 10a 14. “Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary. (Sept.)” Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks (09/01/2016):
In this trim graphic novel, Jack grows a garden rather than a beanstalk in the hopes of helping his mother and sister. Jack’s mom works so hard that she doesn’t even notice the massive garden that her children, along with a neighbor girl, grow from the seeds that Jack traded their car for (it was deemed a robbery by the police). Jack’s sister, Maddy, who is autistic and who almost never speaks, seems to find great comfort and joy in the garden. Jack wants to keep it intact as long as possible, even as the giant plants threaten their lives on more than one occasion, but an alarming discovery leads him to believe his only choice is to destroy it. This sets off a chain of events that leads to Maddy’s being kidnapped; at the conclusion of the book, Jack and his neighbor friend are embarking on a plan to save her. As always, Hatke uses words judiciously, allowing much of the story to unfold within the illustrations. The garden scenes are particularly lush, filling pages with shades of green and intriguing plant creatures: it is clear that they hold dangers, but it is also apparent that the garden is so much richer, fuller, more exciting, and more hopeful than the real lives of the kids. Even without the painfully open-ended conclusion, readers would have been clamoring for the sequel to this creative, gripping interpretation of the fairy tale. AS
Horn Book Magazine (09/01/2016):
While visiting a flea market with his single mother and younger sister, Maddy (who does not speak), Jack foolishly trades the family car for a packet of seeds. He’s thrilled when Maddy begins to thrive as she cares for the garden, but these seeds yield a strange and sinister menagerie of sentient plant creatures. Jack eventually destroys the threatening garden, but not before a friendly neighbor girl, Lilly, steals some of the seeds, unwittingly placing Maddy in terrible danger. She is, in fact, kidnapped by the plant creatures and taken into another dimension, and it’s up to Jack and Lilly to get her back. Graphic novelist Hatke (Little Robot, rev. 9/15) employs a vibrant color palette dominated, unsurprisingly, by verdant greens and with a panel layout that segues seamlessly between dialogue and action — all to terrific effect. What initially seems to be a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk morphs into something that more closely resembles Little Shop of Horrors, and it remains to be seen whether the giant, the golden egglaying goose, and other fairy-tale elements will make an appearance. Hatke is such an engaging storyteller that fans will eagerly wait to find out. jonathan hunt(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
School Library Journal (09/01/2016):
Gr 4-7–Hatke, the author of Julia’s House for Lost Creatures and the popular “Zita the Spacegirl” series, returns to the land of heroes with a modern-day reimagining of “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Jack is the oldest child of a divorced single mom doing her best to keep the family fed. On a trip to the flea market, Jack’s sister, Maddy, who is autistic and never speaks, convinces Jack to swap the family car for a packet of seeds. Adventure soon follows, and Jack finds himself planting a garden that produces a variety of strange and bizarre creatures, meeting the neighbor girl, dealing with his sister, and even encountering a dragon. Hatke deftly weaves in real-world issues as well, such as mother-son relationships, special-needs siblings, and divorced homes. He is in brilliant form here, balancing appropriate dialogue with vibrant, visually engaging images that move the narrative along. Those who enjoy this series starter will want to look out for Jack’s future escapades. VERDICT This title will do well with graphic novel readers, fairy-tale fans, struggling readers, and anyone who enjoys good storytelling.– John Trischitti, Midland County Public Libraries, TX Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Shelf Awareness (09/09/2016):
Ben Hatke’s (Little Robot; Zita the Spacegirl trilogy) cinematic graphic novel Mighty Jack uproots and replants the Jack and the Beanstalk story and it grows into something mighty indeed.
It’s finally summertime, but Jack’s mom is about to start working two jobs, so it will be Jack’s job to take care of his autistic little sister, Maddy, day and night. On their last summer day together, they drive to the flea market where Jack, terrifyingly, loses his sister while his mom is busy buying tools. He finds Maddy hanging out with a devilish-looking man with a latched wooden box full of seed packets: “Plant these seeds, and I promise you–freedom,” he says. Maddy, who usually doesn’t speak, pleads, “Buy the seeds, Jack. Buy all the seeds.” Jack doesn’t have enough cash, so he gives the guy his mother’s car keys. “YOU DID WHAT?!?” his mom says, calling 911.
Obsessed, Maddy starts digging a garden right away. The seeds grow fast, and they grow weirdly. Creepy green hands reach up to the moon, and soon the kids have the most bizarre, dangerous, explosive, prehistoric-looking garden ever, including plants that hurl dirt clods and chase the siblings hungrily. When a sword-wielding neighborhood girl named Lilly joins ranks with them to fend off the violent garden, Jack gets all moony over her. As friendship blossoms, Maddy does, too, finding her voice in the belligerent, otherworldly garden. Told with sensitivity, illustrated with panache, this high-action series debut soars. COPYRIGHT(2016) Shelf Awareness, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Booklist (09/15/2016):
Grades 5-8 Jack knows the seeds from the mysterious flea market vendor weren’t worth the keys to his mom’s car, but his younger sister, Maddy, who’s autistic and rarely speaks, is uncharacteristically insistent they take them. Their beleaguered mom isn’t happy, but she’s too busy working two jobs for the summer to pay much attention, and anyway, Maddy seems enlivened by their new backyard garden. But it’s just as well she hasn’t looked too close, since those blooming plants are . . . odd. Hatke’s aptitude for fantastic creatures is marvelously on display in the magical plants, which straddle the line between botanicals and beasts. They loom large in the margins of scenes, allowing the action to focus on Jack, Maddy, and their neighbor Lily, who spend their summer playfully battling their crops. Meanwhile, the plants seem to be getting stronger, and Jack starts to worry, perhaps too much, about his sister. With expert visual storytelling, an empowering team of kid adventurers, and a tantalizing cliff-hanger, this series starter will easily please Hatke’s legion of followers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)
Review Quotes:
“Ben Hatke has a knack for writing stories that focus on smart, young characters who become caught up with robots, mythical creatures, and alien invasions. “Mighty Jack “is no exception.” “Entertainment Weekly”
“””This first in a series flourishes up to its nail-biting cliffhanger: expect interest for the subsequent offering to positively bloom.Very mighty indeed.” “Kirkus,” starred review”
Review Quotes:
“Ben Hatke has a knack for writing stories that focus on smart, young characters who become caught up with robots, mythical creatures, and alien invasions. “Mighty Jack “is no exception.” “Entertainment Weekly””
Biographical Note:
Ben Hatke is the author and illustrator of the New York Times-bestselling Zita the Spacegirl trilogy, the picture books Julia’s House for Lost Creatures and Nobody Likes a Goblin, and the graphic novels Little Robot and Mighty Jack. He lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley with his wife and their boisterous pack of daughters.
Review Quotes:
“Ben Hatke has a knack for writing stories that focus on smart, young characters who become caught up with robots, mythical creatures, and alien invasions. Mighty Jack is no exception.” Entertainment Weekly
“This first in a series flourishes up to its nail-biting cliffhanger: expect interest for the subsequent offering to positively bloom.Very mighty indeed.” Kirkus, starred review
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Publisher Marketing:
Jack might be the only kid in the world who’s dreading summer. But he’s got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It’s a lot of responsibility, and it’s boring, too, because Maddy doesn’t talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk to tell Jack to trade their mom’s car for a box of mysterious seeds. It’s the best mistake Jack has ever made.
In Mighty Jack, what starts as a normal little garden out back behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything a dragon.
Series: Mighty Jack
ISBN: 9781626722644
Weight: 300gr
Dimension: 215mm X 150mm
Pages: 208