1339 ( )

fun read. hokey, but fun ( )

Blah. Being a girl who does not like comic books or graphic novels, I had a stereotype in my head of what to expect, and this was pretty much it, except a bit more PG. A loser 30 year old white guy who is fat and lives with his mom finds out he is AWESOME (think Jack Black voice) cause he has a special helmet and defeats evil dudes. And he has a busty nerdy girlfriend. To be fair though, this might be funny to teenage boys, or even older boys. And in a multicultural context, this is definitely representing a specific social/cultural group in America - the white male comic book reading dungeons and dragons playing girlfriend not usually having type. And unlike a lot of other cultural groups who have faced discrimination a long time and are seeking better representation in children's and teen literature, this is a segment of society, a certain culture, that pretty much gets away with almost anything, and has a self-effacing, make fun of itself kind of quality evident in the book. It might actually be empowering to the intended audience here not only to make fun of themselves, but also to make fun of their fantasy and escape imaginations, liberating and ironic, and maybe something to escape getting caught in the trap of disliking themselves for being in such a category. Right on.

There is not really an application for this title in school or at the library in programming efforts, but it wouldn't hurt to leave it out on a table in the teen area.