Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody
Patrick Ness, Tim Miller (illus.)
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody
Patrick Ness, Tim Miller (illus.)
Master storyteller Patrick Ness turns to middle grade in a hilarious adventure about a mismatched group of animals attending school together, brought to life by brilliantly funny illustrations.
Zeke and Daniel have just been made hall monitors by Principal Wombat. This has nothing to do with the fact that they are monitor lizards. And never mind the fact Alicia, the only other monitor lizard in the school, is also a hall monitor.
Somehow, the three hall monitors must impose order on arrogant lions, excitable seals and super-relaxed pandas. And worst of all, there is Pelicarnassus! A pompous giant pelican and the son of a major supervillain, who inexplicably has it out for the lizards. Can the hall monitor lizards and their new friend, a blind, fearsome red-tailed hawk, protect their school from all manner of outlandish threats?
Zeke and Daniel have just been made hall monitors by Principal Wombat. This has nothing to do with the fact that they are monitor lizards. And never mind the fact Alicia, the only other monitor lizard in the school, is also a hall monitor.
Somehow, the three hall monitors must impose order on arrogant lions, excitable seals and super-relaxed pandas. And worst of all, there is Pelicarnassus! A pompous giant pelican and the son of a major supervillain, who inexplicably has it out for the lizards. Can the hall monitor lizards and their new friend, a blind, fearsome red-tailed hawk, protect their school from all manner of outlandish threats?
Review
Joe Murray
Great News! Zeke and his best friends Daniel and Alicia have been given the very noble task of being school hall monitors! Sure, they’re also the only monitor lizards at their school, but according to Principal Wombat, that’s definitely just a coincidence. Coincidence or not, being a hall monitor is hard work, especially when there are shouty hawks to befriend, France-shaped family curses to overcome (zut alors!) and super-villainous pelicans to defeat.
Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody, Patrick Ness’s middle-grade fiction debut, is brimming with irrepressible energy and heartfelt sincerity. Countless moments of zany creativity and humour share the page with deft explorations of complex topics like mental illness, privilege and disability without anything feeling out of place. Setting the story in a school for animals is a fantastic choice which allows Ness to make brilliant gags (what’s more terrifying than a pony with a superiority complex?) but also opens the story up to discussions of school cliques and the dangers of stereotypes, as our scaly heroes find themselves outsiders in a warm-blooded world.
Happily nestled between the fairly serious and the deeply silly, Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody is a delightful story that left me very excited to see where Patrick Ness goes next.
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