Max's Logbook
Dr. Phil meets Captain Underpants inMax's Logbook, the latest illustrated journal of Marissa Moss, creator of the Amelia's Notebook series. Max is an imaginative, robot-loving young fellow who, as much as he would relish living on an alien planet, finds himself stuck in a house on Earth with two fighting parents. His logbook (jam-packed with sketches, doodles, and funny asides) is "for writing scientific stuff in," including experiments from "What happens when you microwave a marshmallow?" to his more poignant Invention #4--the Prevent-a-Divorce Machine, complete with toilet brush, flowers, and chocolates. Max recreates the perfect family out of eraser tops, including Eraser Dad (holding rubbery pizza) and Eraser Brother (who he can rub out when he gets mad at him). He and his friend Omar also make eraser aliens, and they draw a comic strip together with adventures like "Alien Eraser in How the Wind Blows" involving a whoopee-cushion parachute and a grim ending in a trash can. In addition to creating a colorful smorgasbord of genuinely entertaining experiments, inventions, and comics, Moss captures the pained voice of a kid who's seriously upset about his parents' impending divorce. Young people with their own "black clouds of worries" will surely be comforted by Max who maintains his sense of  humor throughout and learns (from the alien eraser in his dream) that he doesn't have to choose between his divorcing parents, that he can choose his own world, "a planet that was perfect for me." (Ages 8 and older)--Karin Snelson