Joey Fly, Private Eye 2 by Aaron Reynolds - Review and Blog Tour

Joey Fly, Private Eye: Big Hairy Drama
Aaron Reynolds and Neil Numberman
Henry Holt
128 pgs.

They're baaackk! Joey Fly and his brilliant, NOT, assistant Sammy Stingtail that is!  This time Joey is looking for a Painted Lady, no not the butterfly, well, yes, yes it is the butterfly.  The actress, Greta Divawing, is missing.  Greta is not just any actress though, her skills are so legendary she's known as The Painted Lady and Harry Spyderson has hired the boys to track her down.  Joey is on the case and eager to use his extensive knowledge of the thee-Ah-ter, after all he was in his "grade school production of A Lice in Wonderland!"

Format
Neil Numberman has continued his use of monochromatic scenes to keep that old-timey feel.  Well, there is that one scene where Numberman subtly includes the full-color cover of  Joey Fly, Private Eye: Creepy, Crawly Crime.  (Much the same way I just included a link to my review of Joey Fly!)

My Thoughts

The mystery is a little more involved in this second volume of Joey Fly.  We learn about theater life as well as about the lives of some of the bugs that are included in Big Hairy Drama.  The jokes come quickly and continuously but are like add-ons to the story so it can be read on different levels.  I like that there isn't any violence so I can give to 6th graders but there's a little romance so I can also give this to 8th graders.  We could actually add this one to the 7th grade mystery unit.  Give this one out with Joey Fly: Creepy, Crawly Crime, Don't Feed the Bully, and Jack Lime.

Fun Stuff

Bug Caricature - You could  

win a signed bug-caricature of yourself!  

Just be the 10th commenter on this post!

Cut-Out Masks - download and print out your own mask of Harry Spyderson, Joey Fly, and Sammy Stingtail!

Find out more about Aaron Reynolds at his website. 

YouTube trailer for Creepy Crawly Crime

Blog Tour

Monday, Dec 6 - Book Nut
Tuesday, Dec 7 - Thing 1 & Thing 2
Friday, Dec 10 - The Kats Whiskers
Sunday, Dec 12 - Kidsmomo
Tuesday, Dec 14 - Kids Book Buzz
Thursday, Dec 16 - Elana Johnson's Blog



Tweet

Review - Joey Fly, Private Eye by Aaron Reynolds

Joey Fly, Private Eye: Creepy Crawly Crime
Aaron Reynolds
Henry Holt and Company
96 p. (author supplied)

Summary
Joey Fly attempts to solve the mystery of the missing pencil box with the help of his un-helpful sidekick, Sammy Stingtail.

Format
Neil Numberman illustrates this graphic novel in an eye-catching way: monochromatic coloring. This gives the book an old-fashioned feel - fitting in with the story of an old time private eye, very film noir-ish. I loved it. At the end of the book there's a list of 16 things readers can find throughout the book. A very nice touch!

My Thoughts
Joey Fly is funny in a Sam Spade-ish way: snappy one-liners and lots of wordplay. The story moves quickly. Joey hires an assistant, gets a client and goes about teaching Sammy all the rules of being a detective. Along the way, we are able to fit the pieces together, just as Joey and Sammy are solving the crime. I thought there was just enough bug humor to be funny but not tiring.

Since the characters are bugs, you can't really get to know them. But Numberman's drawings were able to portray a little sense of each bug. Joey was stern but soft-hearted and you could see that in the shape of his eyes. Sammy's eyes made him look like he would get in trouble as soon as you turned your back on him and he does. Each of the women in the story, Delilah, Gloria, and Flittany, had eyes and body shapes that mimicked their character traits. I thought Numberman did a good job of matching the drawings to the story.

I would give Joey Fly 3 copies. It would work with some of my younger students or for students to read when they visit the elementary school. We use Don't Feed the Bully for our 6th grade anti-bullying program and I think this book would be a good follow-up novel for some of the students because they use a similar humor style. There's also a teacher's guide!

About the Author and Illustrator
Aaron Reynolds is a human, not a bug, but he often writes about bugs. He is the author of Chicks and Salsa, Superhero School, Buffalo Wings, and, of course, the Joey Fly, Private Eye graphic novels. Visit him at his website at www.aaron-reynolds.com.

Neil Numberman is a termite currently residing in New York City. Joey Fly, Private Eye is his first graphic novel, but he is also the author/illustrator of the picture book Do NOT Build a Frankenstein. Stop by his website at www.neilnumberman.com.

Joey Fly Book Trailer


Fun with Joey and Sammy
Joey and Sammy are on Twitter! Click the pictures to follow them!


Would you like to know how a Graphic Novel is made?