Big Nate: I Can't Take It!
The latest Big Nate collection of comic strips doesn’t break a lot of new ground: Nate drives Mrs. Godfrey crazy in class; Nate fails spectacularly at sports; Nate thinks he’s hot stuff with girls; Nate gets into crazy adventures with his friends Francis and Teddy; Nate wishes his father were cooler. But familiar territory is what makes Big Nate so much fun. ­Readers who ­discovered the series through Peirce’s graphic-novel hybrids may not be aware that the strip is more than 20 years old. Older children and young teens will appreciate Nate’s middle-school silliness and admire his bravery and frank (occasionally thoughtless) honesty, though parents might wish for fewer fat jokes about Nate’s teacher. In addition to the graphic storytelling, Nate’s cartoons interspersed among Peirce’s panels could provide teachers and librarians with great opportunities to incorporate this series into programs or lessons on cartooning and writing. Grades 3-6. --Snow Wildsmith