Cheesie Mack is Cool in a Duel
Steve Cotler (author), Adam McCauley (illustrator)
Random House BFYR/juvenile fiction, humor
Release Date: June 26, 2012
Cheesie Mack is back in a summer camp adventure with terrific camp friends—and terrifying camp enemies!
Cheesie and Georgie are back, and this time they’re off to the greatest summer camp in Maine. As the oldest of the Little Guy campers, they’ll get to make the campfires and choose the sports teams. It’s sure to be their best summer yet!
Then disaster strikes. Cheesie and Georgie are put in a cabin with the Big Guy campers, including Cheesie’s archenemy, Kevin Welch. Now the youngest—and smallest—of the Big Guys, Cheesie has no choice but to use his brains to fight Kevin’s brawn, so he challenges the bully to a Cool Duel. The adventure that follows includes a toilet on a wall, a headless skateboarder, a garter snake mustache, and the scariest ghost story ever told. Will Cheesie survive to start middle school?
Ronald “Cheesie” Mack is an 11-year old boy with a penchant for writing books, big words and self-promotion.
Like most 11-year olds, his favorite pastime seems to be annoying his older sister “Goon” (known as June to everyone else). Unlike the 11-year olds that are usually depicted, he is happy, well adjusted and his family is completely normal. He worries about being liked, but manages to take teasing in stride. When he makes a mistake, he actually feels bad about it!
I don’t know where this kid came from, but I want to see more of him!
My verdict: Read it! I think kids will instantly connect with Cheesie’s easy narrative style and outgoing personality. His adventures are just exciting enough to keep a reader interested and tame enough to keep a parent calm. The accompanying website will keep kids interested (and learning) long after the book ends.
