Mighty Jack (Mighty Jack Series #1)

by Ben Hatke

Overview

Jack might be the only kid in the world who's dreading summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk—to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made.

In Mighty Jack, what starts as a normal little garden out back behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything…a dragon.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626729162
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	09/06/2016
Series:	Mighty Jack Series , #1
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	349 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Ben Hatke is the author and illustrator of the New York Times-bestselling Zita the Spacegirl trilogy, the picture books Julia's House for Lost Creatures and Nobody Likes a Goblin, and the graphic novels Little Robot and Mighty Jack. He lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley with his wife and their boisterous pack of daughters.
Ben Hatke is the author and illustrator of the New York Times–bestselling Zita the Spacegirl trilogy, the picture books Julia's House for Lost Creatures and Nobody Likes a Goblin, and the graphic novels Little Robot and Mighty Jack. He lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley with his wife and their boisterous pack of daughters.

Editorial Reviews

…[a] thrilling modernized fairy tale…

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

Included in School Library Journal's "Best of 2016" list.

"Ben Hatke has a knack for writing stories that focus on smart, young characters who become caught up with robots, mythical creatures, and alien invasions. Mighty Jack is no exception." —Entertainment Weekly

"This first in a series flourishes up to its nail-biting cliffhanger: expect interest for the subsequent offering to positively bloom. Very mighty indeed."—Kirkus, starred review

"With expert visual storytelling, an empowering team of kid adventurers, and a tantalizing cliff-hanger, this series starter will easily please Hatke’s legion of followers."—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 2016-07-02
A comic-book riff on the classic tale of “Jack and the Beanstalk,” in which an impoverished young boy learns that his new garden has a mind of its own.Jack certainly doesn't have an easy life: with past-due notices piling up, his mother works all the time, leaving him to care for his nearly mute autistic sister, Maddy. One fateful day at a flea market, he happens upon a vendor (whom fans of Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl will immediately recognize) who offers him a mysterious box of seeds in exchange for his mother's car. Maddy and Jack accept his deal and quickly discover that these seeds are anything but ordinary—they are magical and dangerous. Joined by his home-schooled neighbor Lilly, the white children spend their summer learning the quirks and magic of the garden until they unearth an evil lurking within it. Hatke is a master visual storyteller; through sparse, carefully chosen text, his largely image-based story enthralls from one action-packed panel to the next. His interpretation of the familiar fairy tale is richly imagined, giving girls—including one on the spectrum—equal weight in the adventure rather than staying true to the male-dominated original. This first in a series flourishes up to its nail-biting cliffhanger: expect interest for the subsequent offering to positively bloom.Very mighty indeed. (Graphic fantasy. 7-13)

Kirkus Reviews