Comics Squad by Jennifer and Matthew Holm

Holm, J. L., & Holm, M. (Eds.). (2014).Comics Squad: Recess! New York, NY: Random House.

This entertaining graphic novel is a mixture of several stories centered around school life and recess. The first story is about a group of three boys who created a group called the “Super-Secret Ninja Club”. The group meets every day during recess until one day, Daryl, an “outsider”, begs to join their group. Annoyed with Daryl’s relentless begging, the group tells Daryl they would discuss it further after the winter holiday. During the entire winter holiday, Daryl learns every tactic there is to be a super ninja. When the holidays are over, Daryl is ready to be a part of the “Super-Secret Ninja Club”.  However, the group decided that the club was “so last year”, and now dodgeball is their new past time. Furious with the three boys, Daryl shows them up with his ninja skills and hits and throws the dodgeball all over the place. The group is stunned at what they saw and ask Daryl to teach them his new skills. Other stories include, silly lunch lady antics, mischievous Babymouse and her recess troubles, and others. All the stories are created by different authors and illustrators. The entire book consists of only 3 colors, black, orange, and white. Each one of the authors of each story have multiple books published and many are a series of books. At the back of the book is a section about each of the authors, along with a caricature-like drawing of each of the authors. There is also a page where the reader can learn to draw, Betty, is one of the characters in one of the stories. I would recommend Comic Squad-Lunch, which is another book that consists of similar characters and story lines.