#THE BAD CASE OF STRIPES CRACKED#

Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws. The story is heavy-handed, but the girl''s graphically depicted symptoms, from multicolored stripes to twigs and other spiny appendages protruding from her body, contribute to the dark comedy of the retro-style paintings. 1998, Scholastic/Blue Sky, Horn Book (Horn Book Guide, Fall 1998) A girl obsessed with what people think about her contracts an ailment that literally turns her into whatever anyone-classmates, doctors, etc.-decides she should be. Try this for leading into a discussion on being different. The pictures are probably enough to attract young browsers (Camilla in brilliant stripped glory graces the jacket), and the book''s irony and wealth of detail may even interest readers in higher grades.

Will she never be herself again? Shannon''s over-the-top art is sensational, an ingenious combination of the concrete and the fantastic that delivers more than enough punch to make up for the somewhat heavy hand behind the story, and as usual, his wonderfully stereotypic characters are unforgettable. Her weird mutations, which stymie doctors and send the media into a frenzy, become more and more extreme until she finally blends into the walls of her room-her lips the red-blanketed mattress on her bed, her eyes the paintings on the wall. In fact, her desire to please and be popular causes her some spectacular problems: she suddenly breaks out in stripes, then stars, then turns 'purple polka-dotty' at the behest of a delighted classmate.

#THE BAD CASE OF STRIPES CRACKED#

9 & 10)) Camilla, who loves lima beans but won''t eat them because it''s not cool, finds that deferring to others isn''t all it''s cracked up to be.

IRA Children's Choice Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award * 'Shannon's story is a good poke in the eye of conformity-imaginative, vibrant, and at times good and spooky-and his emphatic, vivid artwork keeps perfect pace with the tale.' - Kirkus Reviews, (starred review) 'Shannon's over-the-top art is sensational, an ingenious combination of the concrete and the fantastic.' - Booklist, IRA Children's ChoicePennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award* 'Shannon's story is a good poke in the eye of conformity-imaginative, vibrant, and at times good and spooky-and his emphatic, vivid artwork keeps perfect pace with the tale.' - Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)'Shannon's over-the-top art is sensational, an ingenious combination of the concrete and the fantastic.' - Booklist, IRA Children's Choice Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award * 'Shannon's story is a good poke in the eye of conformity-imaginative, vibrant, and at times good and spooky-and his emphatic, vivid artwork keeps perfect pace with the tale.' - iKirkus Reviews/i, (starred review) 'Shannon's over-the-top art is sensational, an ingenious combination of the concrete and the fantastic.' - iBooklist/i, Stephanie Zvirin (Booklist, January 1 & 15, 1998 (Vol.

The bad case of stripes