Grace for Gus by Harry Bliss (review)

It's an ordinary day at Midtown Elementary for Grace, save for her teacher's parting reminder that the donation jar for a companion for the class pet, Gus the guinea pig, needs a fill-up. It's an ordinary night, too, at home eating dinner, washing dishes, and kissing her dads goodnight, until our protagonist packs up her instrument and backpack, climbs out the bedroom window, and sets off to do some fundraising in the Big Apple, and the fun of this limited-dialogue graphic novel takes off. Readers find Grace fiddling for cash in the subway station; then moving on to the park, where she sets up an easel and does chalk caricatures; then on the subway ride home, it's acrobatics as she twirls to the applause (and remuneration) of fellow riders. She crams the classroom jar with bills in the morning, and the closing frame simply spotlights a very appreciative Gus with an adorable new pal. That's the story, but as charming as it is, it's not really the book. Ferreting out the nonstop walk-ons, cameos, uncredited roles, and miscellaneous Easter eggs compels readers to slow down, re-read, argue, Google, and "Didyacatchthat?!" their way though. For the youngsters, Charlie Brown reposes in the back of a car and an adult Lucy Van Pelt gets her portrait done. For the tweeners, Spike Lee hangs out in the park and S. Spielberg hands out a business card. For the seniors, Hitchcock's silhouette appears in an apartment window and Groucho Marx's picture hangs on the second-grade art board. And yes, there's Woody Allen. And yes, there's Donald Trump—sitting on the subway car, lips pursed, beneath a "tax relief" poster. There's a gag here for every age and taste, but children should be warned that reading this with an adult could get pretty drawn out and intense.