The Legend of Old Salty , and: A Climb up Mt. Barnabas (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Legend of Old Salty, and: A Climb up Mt. Barnabas Deborah Stevenson Loux, Matthew. The Legend of Old Salty. Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-932664-94-2; A Climb up Mt. Barnabas. Paper ed. ISBN 978-1-934964-03-3. Each book: written and illus. by Matthew Loux Oni, 2008 94p. (Salt Water Taffy: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny) $5.95 R Gr. 3–5 This new graphic-novel series follows the exploits of eleven-year-old Jack Putnam and his eight-year-old brother, Benny, on their family vacation to the Maine seashore. In the first book, The Legend of Old Salty, the boys meet colorful seaman Angus O’Neill, who regales them with a tale about the huge sea monster Old Salty; the boys are stunned to discover that Old Salty is real, and that she’s been behind the dreadful saltwater-taffy thefts that have plagued the little village. In A Climb up Mt. Barnabas, it’s their father who spins the dramatic yarn, in this case about Barnabas, the golden eagle, who lives atop Mt. Barnabas, which only Mr. Putnam has ever climbed (and where he acquired his favorite hat); when the boys attempt to follow in their old man’s footsteps, the find even more adventure than they had bargained for. It’s the tone that really makes these sing: there’s real-world humor and acute authenticity in the relationship between the two brothers, whether it be in their mutual casual baiting and harassing or their swift transformation into united front in the face of danger or parents. The ingenious trope of making summer-night tall tales into factual events is both effective and funny, with the wry tone remaining even as the boys face the world’s largest lobster or a hungry talking wolf. The black and white art is a little cramped and overbusy at times for the compact pages, but [End Page 287] it’s generally got a relaxed springy vigor in its exaggerated curves. This is inviting, light-hearted reading sure to grab kids moving up from Frazee’s A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever (BCCB 3/08). Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois