Friday, April 25, 2014

Guy Friday- Cheesie Mack

17978483Cotler, Steve. Cheesie Mack Is Not Exactly Famous
February 25th 2014 by Random House Books for Young Readers 
Copy from Young Adult Books Central and reviewed there.

Cheesie and Georgie are up to no good, as usual, and are hanging around the construction site at school, playing on the equipment.While doing things they ought not to be doing, they unearth an odd, old looking artifact that they end up taking to the historical society with Cheesie's grandfather. This gives them some exposure on the news, and is a welcome distraction from the wedding of Georgie's father and Ms. D. With Cheesie around, nothing goes smoothly, especially Georgie's handling of the ring for the wedding ceremony.
Strengths: We certainly need more funny books for boys, and it's even better when they are in a series. Add some pictures, and it's gold. The first book didn't circulate very well, but when there were three on the shelf, my reluctant readers started recommending them to each other, so they will be thrilled to get this fourth book. Others in the series are Cheesie Mack is Not a Genius or Anything, Cheesie Mack is Cool in a Duel(#2), and Cheesie Mack is Running Like Crazy (#3). There's not a huge amount that happens in this book, but it's a great description of middle school boys and their general lack of impulse control.
Weaknesses: Yep. I am officially irritated by Cheesie's repeated urgings for me to check his web site. I have; it's a very nice web site. I guess the archivist in my soul wants to scream "But what if the web site isn't there in 20 years?!" every time I come across one of them! The book would read more smoothly without these mentions.

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