Max's Logbook - Hardcover

Moss, Marissa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439466601 ISBN 13: 9780439466608

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2003

Synopsis

A beloved and best-selling author debuts on Scholastic Press with an exciting new series!

Clever, curious Max, a budding scientist, begins a logbook to record his hilarious experiments and ideas for inventions. In a journal-like style, his logbook also introduces us to his school, friends, family, and an inventive comic strip, Alien Erasers. But most touching of all is Max's struggle to adjust to his parents' impending divorce. And while Max tries to control the uncontrollable through his wacky scientific experiments, (like the robot that will keep his family together) he soon learns that Dad's new house has possibilitities of becoming a second home.

About this title

Reviews

Grade 3-5-Like Moss's "Amelia" (Pleasant Co.), Max keeps a notebook. He records some of his inventions and experiments, but mostly he writes about his life, both at school and at home. His parents' constant fighting is troubling to him. He fears that their arguing will lead to a divorce and tries to invent a way for his mother and father to get along better. He illustrates his logbook with pictures of his "perfect family" that he drew on pencil-top erasers. The clever artwork also includes the adventures of "Alien Eraser," a comic strip that he and his friend Omar devise. There are some funny one-liners among the humorous, color illustrations. In the end, Max's folks separate, and he realizes that he doesn't have to choose one over the other. An additional purchase where Moss's books are popular.
Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland,
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3-5. Max's parents are both scientists, so he decides to create a record of the happenings in his life on graph paper. Max doesn't have a scientific mind, however, and his "logbook" is filled with scribbled pictures and a comic strip about an invented character, Alien Eraser, as well as his thoughts, which often focus on the disintegration of his parents' marriage. Moss, well known for her similarly formatted books about Amelia, effectively captures the workings of a young boy's mind through seemingly hand-lettered text and boisterous watercolor-and-ink illustrations that are frequently funny. At times, the rather sad story of a confused boy observing his parents' failing marriage doesn't blend well with the manic, humorous activity on the pages, but there's no doubting the energy of this unconventional novel, which comes packaged in a format that is sure to appeal to kids. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0439466601
• ISBN 13: 9780439466608
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 48