Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink

( 1 )

Overview

A dangerous escaped hitman.
An art teacher who has lost her mind.
A naked man covered in seaweed, talking in rhymes.

But what do they all have to do with the criminal mastermind MR. WHO?

It's up to ANNA SMUDGE to find out. But Anna's no ordinary eleven-year-old. She's the top shrink in Manhattan, holding therapy sessions in a cramped storage closet in the lobby of her ...

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More About This Book

Overview

A dangerous escaped hitman.
An art teacher who has lost her mind.
A naked man covered in seaweed, talking in rhymes.

But what do they all have to do with the criminal mastermind MR. WHO?

It's up to ANNA SMUDGE to find out. But Anna's no ordinary eleven-year-old. She's the top shrink in Manhattan, holding therapy sessions in a cramped storage closet in the lobby of her apartment building. And hordes of nutty New Yorkers are nearly kicking down her door, desperate to schedule an appointment. But Anna's got major issues of her own: a mysterious blackmailer, a violent new patient, and more homework than a tenth grader. Oh, and she has to catch Mr. Who, the most horrendous criminal mastermind the world has ever known. Her father's life depends on it.

Teaming up with a motley crew of friends, Anna embarks on an adventure that spans the landmarks of New York City. But how do you find a man when no one has ever seen his face? Does Mr. Who even exist? And if so... WHO is he?

Winner of the Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Juvenile Fiction
Winner of the National Indie Excellence Award for Children's Fiction
Gold Medal at the Young Voices Awards for Best Juvenile Fiction
Gold Medal at the Young Voices Awards for Best Juvenile Mystery
Silver Medal at the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards for Best First Book
Top Choice Award from the popular kid's review site, Flamingnet
Gold Medal at the Young Voices Awards for Best Youth Fiction- NE Region
Benjamin Franklin Award Finalist for Best Cover Design-Children's Books

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Editorial Reviews

Midwest Book Review
Most eleven-year-olds are trying to deal with starting middle school. Anna Smudge is Manhattan's top psychiatrist. Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink follows Anna as she gets her start as a child psychiatrist - not a psychiatrist specializing in children, but a psychiatrist that is a child.

She finds in her sessions that all is not easy for life as a prodigy, confronting blackmailers, difficult patients, covered-up government conspiracies, and way too much homework for any child to handle. Fortunately, she has her friends to support her!

Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink is deftly written and highly recommended for community library young adult fiction collections.
Children's Literature - Paula McMillen
Anna Smudge gets sent to the principal's office for something she insists she didn't do—bite her tormentor, Jacob Pierce. The silver lining is that, since no one believes her, she is sent to the school counselor. There, Anna discovers she likes the woman and begins to think that she would even like to become a counselor herself. So she starts reading about the topic and practicing on her friends. Because she is so good at listening, she makes more friends, and one of them makes business cards for her. Unfortunately, Jacob Pierce spitefully throws the cards to the wind. Now, it seems as though every homeless, helpless, miserable person in New York City is coming to see Anna in the tiny storage area of her apartment building that she uses for an office. Before you know it, she is famous! One of these "clients" turns out to be recently-escaped convict Donny "the Meatball" Fratelli, who has been hired by the mysterious "Mr. Who" to kill Anna's dad over a competitive shipping bid. Anna has to figure out how to stop Meatball without breaking client confidentiality, and maybe she can discover and stop the city's most notorious criminal, "Mr. Who" in the process. Anna accumulates a motley crew of friends who join her in trying to find out if there really is a "Mr. Who" and what his real identity is—are they ever in for a surprise! This is a whacky but enjoyable and fast-paced read that will certainly appeal to girls but could engage boys in the adventure as well. It would provide an easy entree into discussions about peer relations like bullying and friendship. Reviewer: Paula McMillen, Ph.D.
School Library Journal

Gr 4-6- Anna Smudge is an 11-year-old detective and shrink. She spends three-quarters of her time wandering from scene to scene meeting one unbelievable character after another. She lives in New York City, where she deals with typical kid issues-bullies, absent parents, and a healthy fear of dodgeball. Her problems get a little more complex as she is drawn into the mystery of who the villainous Mr. Who is, and then must fight to keep him from having her father murdered. Along the way she discovers she has a talent for listening and decides to become a "Professional Shrink." Her new vocation helps her . . . The writing is extremely repetitious, and the author takes too long to begin tying the plot together into a compelling story line. Until that point, the events seem random and the characters bizarre caricatures. Fabry's illustrations are by far the best part of the book. They show each character in great detail and have a stylized nature that fits the genre to a tee. While it might have made a good graphic novel, Anna Smudge misses the mark as a mystery.-Nicki Clausen-Grace, Carillon Elementary School, Oviedo, FL

Kirkus Reviews
With blithe disregard for educational or legal prerequisites, not to mention internal logic, an 11-year-old sets up as a practicing therapist and finds herself on the trail of a mysterious crime kingpin. Along with standard problems with a bully and working absentee parents, Anna lags a few steps behind in her high-energy, New York City private-school world. Then overnight she parlays a talent for listening to others into a thriving business, and one of her patients admits to being a hit man hired by "Mr. Who"-to do in her tycoon father. After a brief tussle with her conscience over therapist/patient confidentiality, Anna springs into action, enlisting classmates who will probably star in future episodes of the Professionals series to set up an elaborate ambush. . . . Illustrated at section heads with lurid portraits by Fabry, a comics artist, and supported by an elaborate website, this series opener may well prove irresistible to Disney Channel fans and, for that matter, its executives. (Fiction. 10-12)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781934906002
  • Publisher: Toasted Coconut Media
  • Publication date: 5/2/2008
  • Series: The Professionals Series
  • Pages: 256
  • Age range: 9 - 12 Years
  • Product dimensions: 5.90 (w) x 8.90 (h) x 0.70 (d)

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 5, 2008

    A reviewer

    Title: Anna Smudge: Professional Shrink Publisher: Toasted Coconut Media Writer: MAC Artist: Glenn Fabry Price: $ 9.99 US Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Comments: Anna Smudge is an eleven-year-old who happens to be involved with Mr. Who the newest crime boss in Manhattan. Anna is a shrink and she has decided to help capture this new crime boss if he truely exists. From the start Anna is presented yes as a young girl but also one with a attitude of serious professionalism. Her mind is always working. Greg Horn does the cover art here and Anna is illustrated as a cute smart girl. You can see the intelligence in her eyes. The style of writing immediately draws you in. Once you start reading you will not want to put this book down. The young star of this book Anna comes across easily as a very lovable person. Her competence is brought across by the characters surrounding her. Not since Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys or Encyclopedia Brown has a young detective so captivated her audience. The interier art is eye catching. Even in black and white it jumps out at you. The characters are drawn with an off beat look that has a weird style. The story has its funny and entertaining moments. It is definitely amusing. The story though also has a serious note. Bullying can be a problem in school. Children, tweens, teens and even adults should not have to suffer this. It is degrading. Mr. Who is a mysterious figure he stays hidden while running his criminal activities. Everyone who comes in contact with him fears him. His presence is not seen but it certainly is felt. The mix of school life and criminal activity is blended smoothly together. Anna is such a sweet and adorable girl. All her friends are so interesting. You cannot help but be drawn into Anna's life. The suspense and tenion build as we race towards the ending. Surprises await you within this book. The basic story though is about friendship and family. It has lots of excitement and at times is fast paced. But it is the basic characters who will steal your heart away and one little girl in particular. Richard Vasseur

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