Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink (The Professionals) [Paperback]

MAC (Author), Glenn Fabry (Author), Greg Horn (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Professionals | Publication Date: May 2, 2008

Recent Awards

 

Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Juvenile Fiction

Winner of the National Indie Excellence Award for Children’s Fiction

Gold Medal at the Young Voices Awards for Best Juvenile Fiction

Gold Medal at the Young Voices Awards for Best Juvenile Mystery

Silver Medal at the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards for Best First Book

Top Choice Award from the popular kid’s review site, Flamingnet

Gold Medal at the Young Voices Awards for Best Youth Fiction- NE Region

Benjamin Franklin Award Finalist for Best Cover Design-Children’s Books

A DANGEROUS ESCAPED HITMAN

AN ART TEACHER WHO HAS LOST HER MIND

A NAKED MAN COVERED IN SEAWEED AND TALKING IN RHYMES

BUT WHAT DOES IT ALL HAVE TO DO WITH THE CRIMINAL MASTERMIND MR. WHO?

It's up to Anna Smudge to find out. But Anna's no ordinary eleven-year-old. She's the top shrink in Manhattan, holding therapy sessions in a cramped storage closet in the lobby of her apartment building. And hordes of nutty New Yorkers are nearly kicking down her door, desperate to schedule an appointment. But Anna's got major issues of her own: a mysterious blackmailer, a violent new patient, and more homework than a tenth grader. Oh, and she has to catch Mr. Who, the most horrendous criminal mastermind the world has ever known. Her father's life depends on it.

Teaming up with a motley crew of friends, Anna embarks on an adventure that spans the landmarks of New York City. But how do you find a man when no one has ever seen his face? Does Mr. Who even exist? And if so, who is he?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Eleven-year-old Anna, sick of being bullied, fights back and ends up in the counselor’s office, emerging with the realization that she needs to make a change; she decides to set up shop as a shrink. Meanwhile, Donny “The Meatball” Fratelli has broken out of prison to help the mysterious Mr. Who steal a top-secret something from the CIA. Soon, Anna is not just helping her friends in her new role, she’s also trying to find out who Mr. Who really is. Could it be that nasty bully’s father? Is her own father in danger? And what do chocolate cannolis have to do with anything anyway? The book, with occasional purplish prose, is entertaining and amusing enough, though Anna and her crowd are more like high-schoolers than middle-schoolers, given the amount of freedom (and spending money) they have. A few characters seem right out of central casting, as well. But this is still an entertaining diversion, with some well-detailed black-and-white character sketches to add to the fun. Grades 4-6. --Bina Williams

Review

Most eleven-year-olds are trying to deal with starting middle school. Anna Smudge is Manhattan's top psychiatrist. Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink follows Anna as she gets her start as a child psychiatrist – not a psychiatrist specializing in children, but a psychiatrist that is a child. She finds in her sessions that all is not easy for life as a prodigy, confronting blackmailers, difficult patients, covered-up government conspiracies, and way too much homework for any child to handle. Fortunately, she has her friends to support her! Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink is deftly written and highly recommended for community library young adult fiction collections.--Midwest Book Review

Anna Smudge gets sent to the principal's office for something she insists she didn't do—bite her tormentor, Jacob Pierce. The silver lining is that, since no one believes her, she is sent to the school counselor. There, Anna discovers she likes the woman and begins to think that she would even like to become a counselor herself. So she starts reading about the topic and practicing on her friends. Because she is so good at listening, she makes more friends, and one of them makes business cards for her. Unfortunately, Jacob Pierce spitefully throws the cards to the wind. Now, it seems as though every homeless, helpless, miserable person in New York City is coming to see Anna in the tiny storage area of her apartment building that she uses for an office. Before you know it, she is famous! One of these clients turns out to be recently-escaped convict Donny the Meatball Fratelli, who has been hired by the mysterious Mr. Who to kill Anna's dad over a competitive shipping bid. Anna has to figure out how to stop Meatball without breaking client confidentiality, and maybe she can discover and stop the city's most notorious criminal, Mr. Who in the process. Anna accumulates a motley crew of friends who join her in trying to find out if there really is a Mr. Who and what his real identity is—are they ever in for a surprise! This is a whacky but enjoyable and fast-paced read that will certainly appeal to girls but could engage boys in the adventure as well. It would provide an easy entree into discussions about peer relations like bullying and friendship. Reviewer: Paula McMillen, Ph.D.--Children's Literature

With blithe disregard for educational or legal prerequisites, not to mention internal logic, an 11-year-old sets up as a practicing therapist and finds herself on the trail of a mysterious crime kingpin. Along with standard problems with a bully and working absentee parents, Anna lags a few steps behind in her high-energy, New York City private-school world. Then overnight she parlays a talent for listening to others into a thriving business, and one of her patients admits to being a hit man hired by Mr. Who—to do in her tycoon father. After a brief tussle with her conscience over therapist/patient confidentiality, Anna springs into action, enlisting classmates who will probably star in future episodes of the Professionals series to set up an elaborate ambush. Stay tuned. Illustrated at section heads with lurid portraits by Fabry, a comics artist, and supported by an elaborate website, this series opener may well prove irresistible to Disney Channel fans and, for that matter, its executives. (Fiction. 10-12)--Kirkus

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Toasted Coconut Media (May 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193490600X
• ISBN-13: 978-1934906002
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,883,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic read for any age (over 8-10), May 1, 2008

By 

Anthony Annucci (New Jersey, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink (The Professionals) (Paperback)

I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting author MAC at NY Comic Con on 4/19/08. Now that I've read this book, I won't be the least bit surprised if it and its forthcoming companions become a string of tremendous hits.

After MAC laid out the book's basic premise for me, and I checked out the amazing cover art by Greg Horn and interior art by Glenn Fabry, I had to buy the book. And I'm VERY glad I did. Initially, I was reading to see if the story would be age appropriate for my 8 and 10 year old daughters. And it is (the book is recomended for 10 and up, but my 8 year old is an advanced reader). However, it wasn't long before I found myself completely sucked in -- really liking Anna and her growing band of friends (and patients), really disliking school bullies Jacob and Roselyn, and really wanting to find out how it was all going to unfold.

The promotional material for this book says something about MAC's writing being somewhere on the line between slightly disturbing and hilarious. I couldn't have put it better. There are plenty of laughs along the way in this book. The writing is sharp, crisp, clean and very accessible, the pacing is excellent, and the interior design and illustrations are awesome.

When my daughters and I are finished reading Prince Caspian, my wife will be joining us in reading Anna Smudge, Professional Shrink together. Buy this book. MAC and Toasted Coconut Media are doing very cool and very high quality work. I can't wait to see what they do next...Anthony Annucci, Live Body Productions, LLC [...]

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink (Review), May 3, 2008

By 

R. Vasseur "Richard Vasseur" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink (The Professionals) (Paperback)

Title: Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink
Publisher: Toasted Coconut Media
Writer: MAC
Artist: Glenn Fabry
Price: $[...] US
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Comments: Anna Smudge is an eleven-year-old who happens to be involved with Mr. Who the newest crime boss in Manhattan. Anna is a shrink and she has decided to help capture this new crime boss if he truely exists. From the start Anna is presented yes as a young girl but also one with a attitude of serious professionalism. Her mind is always working.
Greg Horn does the cover art here and Anna is illustrated as a cute smart girl. You can see the intelligence in her eyes.

The style of writing immediately draws you in. Once you start reading you will not want to put this book down. The young star of this book Anna comes across easily as a very lovable person. Her competence is brought across by the characters surrounding her.
Not since Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys or Encyclopedia Brown has a young detective so captivated her audience.
The interier art is eye catching. Even in black and white it jumps out at you. The characters are drawn with an off beat look that has a weird style.
The story has its funny and entertaining moments. It is definitely amusing. The story though also has a serious note. Bullying can be a problem in school. Children, tweens, teens and even adults should not have to suffer this. It is degrading.
Mr. Who is a mysterious figure he stays hidden while running his criminal activities. Everyone who comes in contact with him fears him. His presence is not seen but it certainly is felt.
The mix of school life and criminal activity is blended smoothly together.
Anna is such a sweet and adorable girl. All her friends are so interesting. You cannot help but be drawn into Anna's life.
The suspense and tenion build as we race towards the ending. Surprises await you within this book.
The basic story though is about friendship and family. It has lots of excitement and at times is fast paced. But it is the basic characters who will steal your heart away and one little girl in particular. [...]

Richard Vasseur [...]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A child psychiatrist - not a psychiatrist specializing in children, but a psychiatrist that is a child., July 11, 2008

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink (The Professionals) (Paperback)

Most eleven-year-olds are trying to deal with starting middle school. Anna Smudge is Manhattan's top psychiatrist. "Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink" follows Anna as she gets her start as a child psychiatrist - not a psychiatrist specializing in children, but a psychiatrist that is a child. She finds in her sessions that all is not easy for life as a prodigy, confronting blackmailers, difficult patients, covered-up government conspiracies, and way too much homework for any child to handle. Fortunately, she has her friends to support her! "Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink" is deftly written and highly recommended for community library young adult fiction collections.