Archive for May 14, 2018

Frazzled: Ordinary Mishaps and Inevitable Catastrophes

Written and Illustrated by Booki Vivat

Abbie Wu returns with her endearing and annoying penchant toward expecting the worst in every situation. Middle school is progressing as smoothly as a subscriber to Murphy’s Law can expect. Abbie briefly considers running for sixth grade class president but backs off when a truly popular kid runs. She is looking forward to the independence she will gain from having her own locker – only to discover she will have a locker mate. To make matters worse, her locker mate, Jess, a new girl in school, will also be her science project partner. How is she expected to deal with someone she doesn’t even know? But the two of them work very hard to develop the answer to feeding ferocious house cats. Of course, eventually the girls become friends, though Abbie never does exactly figure out what makes Jess tick. But they do earn the respect of their science teacher, who gives them an A for effort.

Abbie learns that, often, a seeming disaster can be a blessing in disguise and that friends can be found in the most unexpected places. With a lot of humor, the author shows that things may not be as dark as they appear – a concept middle graders may have trouble with.            

  • Frazzled2Title:  Frazzled: Ordinary Mishaps and Inevitable Catastrophes
  • Author/Illustrator:  Booki Vivat
  • Publisher:  HarperCollins
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format:  Hardcover/224 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-06-239881-9
  • Genre: Humor, coming of age