How to Negotiate Everything by David Spellman (review)

In this comedic picture book drawn from material in Lutz's adult detective novels, she takes the persona of David Spellman, a character within the novels who often provides the voice of reason in this manual to guide young negotiators. Spellman/ Lutz follows Sammy, a smart young deal broker, to provide a tongue-in-cheek but valid explanation of how moving past emotion and using reason can help young bargainers make deals for the things they want in life. Flowcharts and speech bubbles of dialogue between Sammy and his mark (often his mother) help provide clear examples as Sammy wiggles his way out of eating his broccoli at dinner ("I will eat all my vegetables except the broccoli. Does that work for you?" "We'll see"). The book is marked by a deadpan wit as the narrator plays his counsel straight ("The phrase 'We'll see' is not binding. Sammy needs to close the deal"), and genuine advice—sometimes you can negotiate too aggressively—is comically juxtaposed with grandiose situations—keeping the long-term in mind can help the shrewd finagle their way to President and, subsequently, a pet elephant. Temairik's digital illustrations, softened by her use of charcoal outlines, make use of textile patterns to evoke an almost tactile realism, but they're filled with big-eyed pets and simple but expressive faces that have a lot of whimsical appeal. Visual gags that may go over the heads of the intended audience (Sammy reads 8 Habits of Highly Effective Elephant Owners, for example) and the dry humor buried in the text point some of this to adult readers rather than young audiences, but Lutz makes sure there's plenty of solid advice for an aspiring sharp dealbreaker.