Reviews: (by author)

(3 Reviews)

Howe, James. Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow. Illus. Eric Fortune. New York: Atheneum Books, 2006. ISBN # 1-4169-1458-7. $15.95 U.S./ $19.99 CAN. Middle Grade Readers. www.SimonSaysKids.com

A Children’s Book-of-the-Month Club Selection

Be prepared to laugh out loud. I’m not kidding. It doesn’t matter if you love animals or can’t stand them or if you’ve ever owned pets or not. Those who have owned a cat or dog will find these characterizations right on target. Those who have never had the experience of being a pet owner may never want to after reading this novel.

The story is told in first person by none other than Harold, the dog who made his debut in Bunnicula (1979), the first vampire bunny tale. As in the previous books the story is really more about Harold, Chester, the cat, and Howie, the other dog (a dachshund), rather than Bunnicula. They live with the Monroes, a family of four: Mrs. Monroe (a lawyer), Mr. Monroe (a literature professor), Pete (the oldest son at twelve years of age), and Toby (the youngest son and Harold’s favorite).

When Pete wins a contest to bring the FleshCrawlers series author M.T. Graves to his school, excitement stirs the Monroe household. Not only is Graves going to visit Pete’s school, he wants to stay with the Monroes! But Chester, the feline know-it-all, suspects that the writer has ulterior motives for staying with the family, i.e. kidnapping Bunnicula. And, as usual, Chester demands Harold’s and Howie’s assistance in unraveling the mystery. Of course, everything goes awry—as usual. The phrase “bungling detectives” aptly describes this comedic trio.

What I love about Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow and the other books in the series is that their humor is not childish or patronizing. Instead of going on about how funny this book is, why don’t I just show you?

Howie began yipping his puppy head off at the unseen mailman on the other side of the door, and before I could think to move, a cascade of paper came showering down on me from the mail slot over my head. All in all, it was an ominous awakening.

“Howie,” I said, shaking off my drowsiness along with the envelopes and magazines, “that’s Joe. He’s not here to rob us; he’s here to deliver the mail. You know Joe. Why do you always bark at him?”

Howie looked appalled that I would ask such a question. “It’s my job,” he declared, “my duty as a canine. Gee, Uncle Harold.”

. . . Chester jumped down from his favorite chair in the adjoining room and sauntered over. “And you call yourself a dog,” he snickered.

“I am a dog,” I replied defensively. “I just don’t care for the sound of barking. You know that, Chester.”

Chester didn’t respond. Distracted by something he’d spotted in the pile of scattered pieces of mail, he let out a loud gasp.

“What is it?” I asked, the hairs rising along the ridge of my back. If I hadn’t been half-asleep, I might have had good sense to keep that particular question to myself, knowing as I do that Chester’s gasping is rarely cause for alarm. He is, after all, a cat, which means he tends toward the, shall we say, dramatic. (p.1-2)

I could give you a bigger excerpt; I’m tempted to. But I think it’s better if you experience the whole book for yourself.

Although this novel is the latest in the Bunnicula series, you don’t have to read the previous books to enjoy it. In fact, you could read this one first and work your way backwards. For those of you who have read the prequels, reading the recent installment of the series will be like meeting old friends. You can rely on Harold, Chester and Howie to be the same old Harold, Chester and Howie from the last Bunnicula book you read.

Last but not least, Eric Fortune’s pencil illustrations are an “excellently weird,” to quote Pete’s winning essay, a combination of eerie and funny, capturing the tone of the novel. Some illustrations take away from the enjoyment of reading the text. Not in this case. Howe’s text and Fortune’s pictures are a perfect combination.

Marie Soriano, June 2007

Howe, James. Thirteen. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2003. $16.95. ISBN 0-689-82863-2. 278 pp.

This book consists of thirteen stories by various authors about the horrors and delights of being that dreaded age of thirteen years old.   These stories capture personal feelings, thoughts, and memories that most readers can relate to at any age because we have all experienced that dynamic year.   This book ranges from anecdotes about a bar mitzvah gone wild to a fairy's visit due to the anxiety of turning thirteen.  

This book is wonderful for readers of adolescence and adulthood.   As I read it, I took a walk down memory lane and remembered my best and worst moments at that awkward stage.   Despite how different every reader's experiences may have been at that age, there is so much humor and heartbreak that anyone can relate to.   There were moments when I literally laughed out loud and moments when I cringed inside at the thought of what every teenager goes through.   I found this book to be similar to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, in which there are various authors sharing their soul driven stories.  

Recommended
Whitney Kuroyama, June 2004

Howe, James. Totally Joe. New York: Alladin Mix, 2005. ISBN 0-689-83958-8. U.S. $5.99 / $6.99 CAN. Ages 9-13. www.simonsayskids.com www.nonamecallingweek.org

Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year 2005
ALA Notable Book 2006
Lambda Literary Award nominee 2006

This is the kind of book that touches you so deeply that you want all your friends to read it, too, and you talk about it to everyone you meet. It’s the kind of book that makes you feel a little sad when it ends and hopeful that there will be a sequel. James Howe’s first book was Bunnicula, the tale of the vampire bunny, and the Bunnicula series is the work I’m more familiar with. But when I picked up Totally Joe I suspected Howe wouldn’t disappoint, and I was right.

Meet Joe Bunch. He’s a twelve-year-old boy who is smart, thoughtful . . . and gay. Flamboyantly so. And it would be safe to say that he’s in touch with his feminine side. As Joe points out, he is not a “guy-guy.” Joe is different; he doesn’t conform to traditional gender roles, and sadly, some of the kids at school don’t handle diversity very well. From his point of view we get what it’s like to grow up gay—being bullied, being called a “faggot,” not being able to hold hands with your boyfriend for fear of humiliation or ridicule. Luckily he has a family who supports and loves him, and he has a group of friends that do completely accept him as he is.

Totally Joe depicts the hardships gays experience without being tragic. It is optimistic yet not simplistic, trite or corny.

The novel is intelligently set up in the form of an English assignment: an autobiography from A to Z. It’s told in a first person narrative that is often laugh-out-loud funny as well as bravely honest (Howe certainly proves his talent for humor) and absolutely unique.

Although this is a story about a gay kid, I think you can relate to Joe whether you’re gay or not. He reveals,

About three weeks into the sixth grade, which is so different from the fifth grade they should give you a passport, I started spending a lot of time in the nurse’s office with these mysterious stomachaches. While I was lying there on that little bed, thinking about whose head had been on the pillow before mine and if they had coughed a lot and what disease they had, and while I was also trying to look pitiful enough not to be sent back to class, it occurred to me that the real reason for my stomachaches was that not being popular actually hurts! I didn’t want to have to change in order to have everybody like me, but that didn’t stop me from wanting to be liked. (p. 132-133)

James Howe’s novel isn’t just about being gay; it’s about the desire each and every one of us has, child and adult alike, to be liked and accepted, and it’s about the challenges we sometimes face when we do dare to be authentic and genuine. Who can’t relate to that?

Marie Soriano, June 2007

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