Calamity Jack

So I was part of the judging panel that awarded Rapunzel's Revenge the Cybils Award. Imagine my pleasure when Calamity Jack showed up on my doorstep months ago. Imagine my excitement at reading it. Imagine my dismay at realizing the pub date of 01/10! But now, I feel like we're close enough to said date to blog it, so yay!

Jack has always been somewhat of a trickster, though often to unfortunate ends. He considers himself a criminal mastermind with a bit of bad luck. He is a born scammer, and he remembers all of his schemes fondly enough to have named them! "The Sugarbowl Gambit", "The Great Sandwich Caper", "The Grocery Job", "The Purloined Pig", "The Cane Mutiny", "The Ice Cream Con"...and the list goes on. Picking the right target and having the right partner are key elements of pulling off a scheme. Jack soon fancies himself a Robin Hood of sorts, when he sees his jobs as righting wrongs and helping less fortunate folks. But Jack doesn't always get away with it, and his mother is beside herself. Jack promises himself he won't make his mother cry again. It's time to go straight. After one last caper...

Jack is taking on the big boss Blunderboar this time. Jack should have known better, but his luck truly takes a turn for the worse and he soon high tails it out of town where he meets Rapunzel. They have their adventures and Jack decides it's safe to head home, and he takes Rapunzel along with him.

Of course the trip home is anything but dull and the wanted posters featuring Jack's mug complicate matters even more.

Chock filled with action, beasties, and steam punk sensibility Calamity Jack takes readers to a far flung world where fairy tales do come true in unexpected ways. Perfectly paced, fans of the first book will happily devour this installment, and first time readers will no doubt go back and read about Rapunzel after they finish Jack's story. The only time that Rapunzel's Revenge is in our library is for somebody to check it in so that a friend can check it out, and I am sure that Calamity Jack is in for the same fate. Appealing across genders and ages, this is no doubt a graphic novel series that will stand the test of time.