Tashjian, Janet. My Life as a Cartoonist.

Tashjian, Janet.  My Life as a Cartoonist. (My Life As)     Macmillan/Henry Holt  2013    258p  ISBN 978-0-8050-9609-5  elem/ms     E-BN  Realistic fiction

Children who read My Life As a Cartoonist will readily identify with the confused Derek, who is being bullied.  However, this bully is unique; he is in a wheelchair.  Derek’s emotions are all over the place as Umberto steals his sketch ideas, torments him continually and generally makes his life miserable.  Naturally, others side with Umberto because they don’t see his subterfuge.  When Umberto proposes a fight after school, Derek has to decide if he will defend himself physically, and that is as real as real can get.  Readers might not have to make a decision about fighting someone in a wheelchair, but all bullied children have to make that no-win decision at some point in their lives.  In this case, Derek’s reputation will be soiled no matter what he decides to do.  Other conflicts are less important, but wonderfully presented.  Should Derek wait by the sidelines while his girl Carly develops a relationship with Crash?  Can Derek reconcile the loss of his beloved pet if Bodi dies of a seizure?  Who will believe him when he tells his cartoon club members and friends that Umberto has stolen his sketch ideas?  The sketches are of his monkey Frank, a capuchin monkey who resides with Derek’s family as he waits to be a service monkey for the physically challenged.  Tashjian combines a frank portrayal of the protagonist Derek with “expert sketches” of a plethora of new vocabulary words to make this book particularly memorable.  The plot is perfect, and the characters are so believable.                  

Summary: When Umberto comes to Derek’s school, he picks on Derek relentlessly.  Confrontations continue to confound Derek because it is difficult to know how to fight back when the bully is in a wheelchair.      Janet Tashjian was truly inspired to pen the conflict in this new My Life As book because it is both heartfelt and powerful. 

Bullying-Fiction, Handicapped children-Fiction        --Martha Squaresky

Tashjian, Janet. My Life As A Stuntboy.

Tashjian, Janet.  My Life As A Stuntboy.  Henry Holt/Macmillan Children's Publishing Group,     2011. 256p.  $13.99  ISBN 978-0-8050-8904-2 elm/ms

VG-BN Realistic Fiction

     When Derek is invited to participate in a movie as a stunt boy, his life falls apart.  His best friend is jealous, his monkey eats one of his toys and becomes deathly ill, and his classmates ridicule him because he must perform stunts for a girl.  Fun characters, solid plot development, comedic style and interesting conflicts combine to make this book a good choice for the elementary- and middle-school reader.  When Janet Tashjian put together her story, she switched it enough to make it fresh and inviting to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Whereas Kinney wrote his books in journal form with stick illustrations, Tashjian wrote hers in narrative form with all of the elements of storytelling intact.  She used her husband’s illustrations to support vocabulary acquisition, not to tell the story.  Aside from the stick-figure illustrations, all similarities to "Wimpy Kid" end. 

     The story begins when Derek and his best buddy Matt are caught performing stunts at UCLA.  This incident leads Derek on the adventure of a lifetime, that of stunt boy in an actual movie!  Jealous best friend Matt tapes Derek with his reading tutor, unbeknownst to Derek, and puts it on YouTube.  As a result, Derek is devastated.  He just does not know how to win Matt back!  His new career moves forward when the famous star of the movie befriends him, thus making him a hit at his school.  When his monkey is kidnapped, Derek learns that relationships are much more important than his new job, and he is contrite to the end.  Tashijian has penned an upbeat winner of a book that will keep children reading.                 

Martha Squaresky

 

Tashjian, Janet. My Life As a Book.

Tashjian, Janet My Life As a Book
Henry Holt/macmillan children's pub group 2010 210p 16.99 978-0-8050-8903-5 elm/ms family life - Summer - Secrets VG-BN


Derek Fallon is 12 years old and a holy terror. His parents are at their wits end when they decide to send him to a Learning Camp where he will be reading and writing to catch up in school. Derek does not easily into the routine of the learning camp until he uncovers a secret that changes his life.
For Derek a regular day begins with mischief and ends with mischief. At times his parents feel that Dennis the menace has invaded their son body. Tired of all his antics his mom decide to send Derek to a learning camp. Where he will be doing school work while hopefully he is having fun. However, Camp has yet to begin and school just let out and so his mom needs to get a babysitter for Derek so she can do her errands. Derek challenges the babysitter but she is quick on her feet and does not let him get into trouble on her watch. She does mention an incident that stop Derek cold in his tracks. He does not recall the incident and when he asked his mother about it, she dismissed it as nothing. Now really curious, Derek begins an investigation and what he uncovers changes him overnight.
The boy in the this story is truly scary and in need of strong discipline. His antics border on dangerous and outrages and out of control. The good news is that as the story progresses he seems to find order and wonders about the incident that could have easily caused his death but instead was the cause of someone else's death. This then becomes his goal to uncover what happened that fateful day on the beach when he was a baby.
I admit that the ending of the story more than makes up for the distressing beginning and the perfectly horrible child. By the end of the book, Derek sees the errors of his ways and the author ends the books on a very positive note.
Realistic Fiction Diaz, Magna