Short & Skinny

Mark is 4'7" in middle school, and takes his share of abuse in the hallways, although he has some friends. As summer approaches, he is bound and determined to put on some weight and muscles, and sends off for many aides found in the back of a comic book. (But no sea monkeys. Drat!) He has a cool bike that takes him all over town, and when the original Star Wars movie premiers in May of 1977, he and his friends are there at the local theatre, waiting in line. His brother and sister aren't always terribly helpful, but are there for him when he needs them. Mark's biggest interest is drawing comic strips, but after seeing Star Wars, he is bound and determined to do make a MAD Magazine style movie parody of it. His parents are supportive of his attempts, even in the days when film meant actual, expensive film and processing, and he gets some small acclaim for his attempts, even if he doesn't get a whole lot bigger over the summer.There are a lot of middle school boys who are very small, but it doesn't show up in literature. My brother was 4'10" when he started high school in 1981, so I know it can be a very significant concern. This is a historical fiction graphic novel, much like Holm's Sunny Side Up, and there aren't a lot of those. The blending of historical details with concerns that students still has makes this very engaging, and the Star Wars tie in can never go wrong!I bought a copy of this for one of my student helpers because he would check out the library copy once a week. This is the perfect gift for a young Star Wars fan who has an appreciation for history.

My nephew read this book at school and wanted his own copy.

Feel like I am a legit connoisseur of graphic novels at this point, as they have been my nine-year-old's go-to for the past three years. I was utterly blown away by this one. We checked it out from the library - he read it on his own and then told me I had to read it to his five-year-old brother...who refused to go to sleep until I'd finished the entire thing. There were many stretches of the book where my five-year-old had a huge smile on his face. And as an adult, it was a joy to read - so well-written, with a great storyline that pulled both kids and grownups along. Super inspiring as well - feel like it motivated my kids to want to go and make something themselves. I immediately bought three copies for friends' kids. I've never written a review of anything but felt like I needed to for this one. SO GOOD.

Short & Skinny was an amusing quick read for our family. Although it's listed as a comic for kids in grade 3-7, I think it will resonate better for kids 6th grade and up. The book is a short memoir of Mark Tatulli (the comic author of Lio) and his trials and tribulations of growing up in the 70's as the short and skinny kid. While my kid thought the book was okay, my older siblings found it much more entertaining because they grew up in this decade and could relate to the author - having nonscheduled summers biking around town, mail ordering stuff from comic books, and Super 8 film instead of using an iPhone to record things were just too foreign for my kids to comprehend. Also, they still don't get the thrill of Star Wars in comparison to something like the Avengers ("the special effects back then suck!"). In all honesty, I think my older siblings enjoyed this book more than my kids did!The story writing reminded me vaguely of The Wonder Years and it was fun seeing comic Mark navigate through bullies, his crush, and his summertime plans of making a spoof of Star Wars. For those who grew up in the 70's, there's a lot of neat little details Tatulli added ranging from the obvious (high ride handlebars banana seat bicycle), nostalgic (full comic book page of ads such Life size monster ghost that obeys your commands, only $1!, to the minute details only children of the 70s and 80's would recognize (Farrah Fawcett poster on comic Mark's wall ). It was really amusing getting into conversations with my kids about how technology advanced (who ever heard about running out of film for a camera?) and an uplifting story of how you don't have to be big and tall to do great things that you enjoy. Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but probably more for the adults than the kids.

Although this book is described as the memoir of its author, Mark Tatulli, the book mostly tells the story of how Mark spent his summer vacation in 1977 when he was in between the 7th and 8th grade. Its a cute coming of age story of a boy who is not the most popular, is smaller and skinnier than most of his classmates, who loves his bike and his friends and his family and discovers a love for Star Wars which premiers that summer (and which he learns of during a matinee showing of Disney’s Lady & the Tramp!). Mark yearns to be popular & to no longer be bullied, so he spends most of his summer scouring the ads at the back of his comic books looking for that miracle product as a quick, easy fix to make him grow taller & stronger. Of course, he’s disappointed everytime. After seeing the movie Star Wars, he comes up with the idea of making his own version of the movie starring his friends and believe THIS is what will finally make the kids like him and he’ll become famous.The story is sweet and simple, told in comic book form which makes it a quick read that should spark the interest of young readers who may not otherwise have the patience or attention span to read a memoir. Because its written from the point of a view of a 12yr old in a format thats popular with young kids, this may be the one book your kids will actually WANT to read. With several pop culture references to the summer of ‘77 this is actually a book both kids and their parents can read together and enjoy, for entirely different reasons.