Erik P Kraft

Brothers Lennie and Mel have all sorts of misunderstandings and hijinks during nine holidays throughout the year, including Labor Day, New Years Eve and Cinco De Mayo.

Rather than reading as pieces of a continuing story, each chapter of Lenny and Mel is its own vignette. This makes it easy for young readers to pick up the book and read only a chapter at a time, but it also makes it difficult for any character or plot development to occur. Each page has a few cartoons in the drawing style of a show more fifth grader, meshing well with the childish tone of the text. Though Lennie & Mel's plot is not particularly compelling, their antics are amusing and sure to elicit a laugh from the reader.

Recommended, particularly for transitional or reluctant readers. show less

This is the story of Tom Mayo, nickname Miracle Wimp. Sixteen years old, further down on the pecking order, working his way through the vicissitudes of social life in high school. Should have been in Computer Animation, wound up in wood shop.

Where is this story going? Good question. Page by page there's a new vignettes, each no longer than a page or two, another little window into Miracle Wimp's life. Somewhat linear, bits and pieces of a story thread pop up. Easy to pick up and put down. show more Easy to abandon. Perfectly enjoyable, easily forgettable.

Two thirds of the way through Tom grows a bit of a spine. Things actually seem to be coming together. Is Kraft going to knot all these little bits into a massive gabbeh of lush storytelling? The kid's got some better friends, a kinda-sorta girlfriend, a small cache of cool. It's coming into the home stretch, down to the wire...

Nope, that's it. Book over.

Fair enough, it does pick up steam in the last half and seems to pull itself out of being just a collection of random-seeming vignettes, but coming on the heels of finishing the first two Wimpy Kid books I have some questions. Do teen age boys really want to read about nerds and the socially maladjusted hosers (here referred to as Donkeys and bolos) they deal with every day at school? If you had to go through all this in middle school would you still be interested it in high school? Is this really the only way to capture teen boys who don't want to delve into fantasy? Is the best we can offer them in terms of realistic fiction that isn't the cold world of The Chocolate War?

Yes, the bits ring true, the totally awkwardness is palpable, but on a lot of levels I can't help wonder if this book wouldn't track better with a certain sector of the male adult population. Guys who were there once, who came out of it okay, and can look back and laugh.

I laughed a couple times, but it was the hit-or-miss laughter of watching stand-up. That's no coincidence; Kraft does stand-up comedy and that's the exact rhythm of this book. Jab, jab, jab, punchline. Smirk, smirk, smirk, laugh. Ponder, muse, laugh, use the bathroom, answer the phone, take a nap, grab a snack, pick up the book, open it randomly, read.

Literature for a short attention spans that...

What? Huh? Was I saying something? show less

This is an excellent book for picky eaters and children who struggle with rigidity or hyper-focused interests. This book is better for slightly older young children that have the ability to think somewhat abstractly or understand silliness. Chocolatina is the story of a young school girl who only eats chocolate. After wishing she was chocolate, she wakes to find that her wish came true. Her school day is a struggle and she learns a valuable lesson about being open to trying new things.

Ages: show more 5-8
Source: Personal Collection show less

Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

MIRACLE WIMP by Erik P. Kraft is the account of life as a high school nerd. Tom Mayo, yes Mayo, hence the nickname Miracle Wimp, tells his story.

Early on, Tom attempts to explain how he tried to tell his tormentors the Donkeys (jock-types) that mayonnaise and Miracle Whip were not the same, but no one ever said the Donkeys were very bright.

As many will remember, high school can be filled with "painful" moments, and Tom show more describes them well. Constructed in one to two page snippets, MIRACLE WIMP is one high school torture after another. There are wedgie victims, a terrifying shop teacher with pointless shop class projects, gym class tortures like group showers, "flag" football, and wrestling, not to mention first dates and the nerve-racking fear of driver's ed.

Anyone with high school experience can relate to Tom's stories. Spend two hours at a local diner drinking coffee and eating pickle spears? According to Tom Mayo, that's a pretty cool thing to do when you are a high school kid with very little money, especially if the coffee is 50 cents and the pickles are free.

MIRACLE WIMP is a fast read with its short chapters and plentiful chuckles. It should be a success with both current and up-and-coming high schoolers as well as a few adults who want to remember the "good old days." show less