My Big Mouth: 10 Songs I Wrote that Almost Got Me Killed (review)

Starting a new school in the spring of your freshman year is no easy task. For Davis Delaware (who is not from Delaware, thank you very much), the confusion surrounding his name is only the beginning of his tribulations in high school, which he chronicles in humorously exaggerated comic-like spot illustrations, sarcastic, long-suffering narrative prose, and angry, witty song lyrics. He starts a band with beautiful Molly (his at-first-sight crush) and dweeby Edwin (her chatterbox best friend), and he’s targeted for severe intimidation by the school bully Gerald “The Butcher” Boggs; along with his sad but doggedly parental dad, he continues to deal with the ongoing grief of his mother’s death the previous year. The obvious comparison here is to Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, BCCB 6/07), but Hannan adds a bit more domestic pathos and focuses more explicitly on that awkward place between cooties and crushes, resulting in a little less depth on the insight front. There is plenty to like here, though, from smartly developed relationships to absurd hijinks to subtly conveyed emotional beats (plus, for the observant, a backwards flip book in the lower right-hand corner that depicts an extreme dodgeball victory over Gerald). For readers who enjoyed Wimpy Kid but want a read-alike that is more than just a ripoff, this is just the ticket.