On a Roll

October 1, 2011

Gr 3-6-Big Nate is used to being the shining star of his scout troop, but now Artur-Mr. Perfect-is stealing his spotlight. Not only that, but it is Artur's fault that Nate has detention, and it is his fault that a certain obnoxious girl thinks Nate has a crush on her. The sixth grader is fed up and determined to show that he is better than Mr. Perfect by outselling Artur for the troop's fund-raiser. At stake is more than Nate's reputation-the winner also receives a new skateboard. This series is a great answer for kids looking for "Wimpy Kid" read-alikes, and Nate delivers the comic relief and action appealing to reluctant readers. The comic-strip illustrations throughout add to the fun. This book delivers what fans have come to expect.-Elizabeth Swistock, Jefferson Madison Regional Library, Charlottesville, VA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 15, 2011

Sixth grader Nate Wright needs a new skateboard...but more than that he needs to beat perfect Artur at SOMETHING.

Artur has a nifty foreign accent. Artur has Jenny, the girl Nate likes. Artur charms adults and kids alike, and Nate can't stand it. What makes it double awful is that Artur is such a nice guy. Infuriating. But Artur IS to blame for Nate's losing his skateboard...indirectly. Artur dripped paint in Nate's eye, causing Nate to knock over the ladder Artur was on. Nate got detention (Artur didn't), and Nate had to hurry on his skateboard to get to Timber Scouts. In the hurry, Nate was clothes-lined by a lady and her poodle, and his board sailed into the river. There is a chance he can win a new board by selling (dorky) wall hangings door to door for Scouts. He just has to beat the new kid in the troop...Artur! Peirce's third Big Nate chapter book, starring Big Nate (from the comic strip of the same name), is the slickest of this series of hybrid comics-and-text chapter books. Nate's an artistic, realistic, funny narrator. On a roll indeed!

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011
Big Nate's third (mis)adventure finds the sixth grader in fierce albeit one-sided competition with class dreamboat and all-around good guy Artur for both a new skateboard (the prize for a scouts' fundraising drive) and the heart of Jenny, Nate's secret crush. Nate needs a new skateboard because...you don't actually need to know, as the loss of his old one is just typical Nate misfortune, a combination of the boy's own fecklessness and the cruelty of an indifferent world. While Nate is often compared to Jeff Kinney's Wimpy Kid and will appeal to the same audience, he bears more resemblance to the tricksters of folklore: not a bad character, exactly, and one whose scheming is both inventive and self-defeating. Nate's sarcasm can become monotonous, but the interplay between text and pictures remains fresh, as does the distinction between Peirce's cartoons and Nate's own cartoons, which make up in chutzpah what they lack in finesse. roger sutton

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2012
Big Nate's third (mis)adventure finds the sixth grader in fierce albeit one-sided competition with all-around good guy Artur for both a new skateboard and the heart of Jenny, Nate's secret crush. The interplay between text and pictures remains fresh, as does the distinction between Peirce's cartoons and Nate's own cartoons, which make up in chutzpah what they lack in finesse.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)