Review Mighty Jack

• Author: Ben Hatke
• Grade Level : 7 – 9
• Pages: 208
• Publisher : First Second; Illustrated Edition
• Date: September 6, 2016

Summary:
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.

My Review:
I ended up reading this book with my youngest kid because he has to do reading for school. The story was well written and the art was awesome. Retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk is how this story comes across. It has a different twist to it.

I love the interaction between Jack and Maddy. Jack cares for his sister a great deal but I get the sense he feels a weigh on his shoulders at times. His mother works two jobs and is juggling it all. That is not an easy task to do! Jack does the best he can with the situation. When the seeds come into play and start to grow, strange things happen. Strange creatures and events happen which make the story exciting. Maddy, his sister is fascinated with the garden and somehow something happens to her. You have to read it to find out.

The story had a mix of magic, fantasy and reality. Having a combo of this really made the story interesting. Such an adventure!! Imagine if a plant came to life in your backyard, what would you do?? The illustrations are so cool. My youngest kid liked the story quite a bit and is ready to read the next book because it had a cliffhanger. What’s next for Jack? Even I want to know what is going to happen too! Book 2, here we come!

This is great for children to read and even adults if you are so into graphic novels! I read them time to time. I used to peek at The Sandman graphic novels back in the day when I used to be a shelver at a library. I think graphic novels appeal to children well because it’s visual. To see a story and pictures together can be appealing.