Saturday, February 13, 2016

Winter Reading Alex vs. the Four-Headed Gargantuan

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In the grand tradition of superhero comics everywhere, Alex vs. the Four-Headed Gargantuan shares the story of an intrepid hero who braves the weather, a vicious yapper-snapper, and even a gang of teenagers to make sure the newspapers are delivered to his customers. Alex is a typical suburban kid who decides to take a paper route and earn some spending money. He loves the growing pile of cash, but worries that the gang of older boys always hanging out down the street will beat him up and take his hard-earned money away from him. In his head he imagines himself as a fearless superhero who can take on any danger and come out on top. But when he actually confronts the posse, he is in for more than he imagined.

The story is told in a mix of narrative and comic panel illustrations, making it similar in style to books such as Diary of Wimpy Kid and Big Nate. This book would actually appeal to even younger readers than those series because it is a much shorter story. Its length combined with the illustrations will make it very popular with reluctant readers, too. The lessons Alex learns about earning and saving money, and about making assumptions would be good talking points for a class discussion.

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

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