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My Important Thoughts About The Book:
 Self-help books and taekwondo both play large
parts in Happy Kid!. Where did those two
subjects come from?
I'm a sucker for self-help books on creativity and fitness, but I've been known
to read other kinds, too. In fact, I just ordered a new self-help book a couple of days
ago. You definitely can't assume that I don't like something just because I make jokes
about it.
As far as taekwondo is concerned, I'm very much into writing what you
know about. Not only is it easier, but it's always nice to sound as if you have some idea
what you're talking about. I've been training at a taekwondo dojang for
more than three years, and I've been a black belt for more than six months now.
Unfortunately, being an entry-level black belt doesn't mean that I know everything about taekwondo.
(I wish.) Or even very much at all. But I do know a whole lot more about taekwondo
than I know about swimming, which was my first choice of sport for Happy
Kid!. |
The Critics' Important Thoughts About The Book...
 | Booklist: "The essential darkness of Kyle's initial
situation is lightened by the humor that bubbles up from time to time throughout this
intelligently written novel." "…this is a rewarding novel of adolescent
angst and growth."
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| The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books: "Basing a
novel around a self-help book risks didacticism, but the magical properties of the book
balanced with a healthy does of scatological humor (Jake has the ability to fart on
command) make this novel succeed as a warm and often very funny tale about making the best
of a series of bad situations. With its snappy, dead-on middle-school dialogue and
unexpected plot twists, this will give self-help and positive attitudes a new and improved
sheen of coolness."
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| The Horn Book: "Through this surreal lens, Gauthier offers
comic riffs on standardized testing, student placement (especially in AP classes), lunch
rules, teacher inanities, and student cliques, all of which afflict Kyle. Kids will groan
in recognition of absurd school bureaucracy and feel empathy for smart, self-deprecating
Kyle."
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| Journal Enquirer: "Gail Gauthier…has written yet
another middle-school gem, one full of humor, irony, and even a lesson or two about
accepting responsibility."
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| KLIATT: "Kyle's cynical, smart-alecky tone and
humorous predicaments will draw readers in...A fun, quick read for middle school and
junior high students
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| Kirkus Reviews: "...slyly fanciful but unambiguously
humorous story…" "Gauthier…pulls off the difficult feat of writing an
amiable, malice-free send-up of self-help…"
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| School Library Journal: "Gauthier perfectly describes a
typically self-absorbed teenage boy who sees himself as the underdog. Her one-liners,
rapid-fire humor, and sharp ear for dialogue make this a quick, funny read. This portrait
of middle school will ring all too true to students who run that gauntlet daily."
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