Nick, the 14-year-old son of the stern, rigid "commanding officer" of a military school, hopes to be an artist despite his father and grandfather's expectations that he'll attend West Point. Unknown to his family, he has created a cartoon universe of tiny insects who live off the words printed in books; his hero, Frankenlouse, "really belonged in a horror library, but his owner had lent him out before he ever got there, so that he ended up among books of poetry, music, art, and literature." Nick begins by modeling Frankenlouse on his father, but as the character develops, its personality becomes more and more independent-just as Nick's father slowly realizes that Nick has ambitions and aspirations of his own. Dialogue balloons from the Frankenlouse cartoons are reproduced in the text, and although they do not have the childlike zaniness of Jules Feiffer's hero's work in The Man on the Ceiling, they are fresh and funny. Plenty of subplots and a full cast of semi-eccentrics keep the pace lively and the canvas full. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-Nick Reber comes from a long line of military men, and he attends Blister Military Academy, which his martinet father runs. He is torn between his father and his mother, who left for the freedom of New York and a boyfriend in a mink coat. To work through his troubles, he draws a cartoon strip about book lice. Though the lead louse starts out to be his father, it gradually transmutes into Nick, who grows a lot by the end of the story. As the boy tries to find his way through adolescence, he interacts with various classmates, particularly Jessie Southgate, one of BMA's five female cadets and neglected daughter of a Madonna-like star, and Caleb Purr, Nick's troubled friend who only cares about skateboarding. Nick as the narrator has a true voice. Dialogue balloons from "Frankenlouse" provide insight and humor. The only plot element that's tough to swallow is a skateboarding competition-it is difficult to imagine such an event being important to two stiff-lipped military academies. As she did in Shoebag, James makes each character three dimensional without going into excessive description. The ending is realistic, and readers should be satisfied with the way things work out for Nick and the others, especially his father.
Patricia A. Dollisch, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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