by Doug TenNapel
Graphix, $12.099, 220 pages
There should be some sort of advisory for families when it comes to boating trips. Bad Island shows one such bad trip, as a family boat wrecks on an island that is decidedly not a good island. The island has everything that a teenage boy would rather not have to deal with, ranging from aliens to zombies. Reese takes his first steps to manhood on the island, as he is given a chance to explore who he will be, even as the family explores the island.
Although the story could have been tightened up a little bit, especially he story of the alien prince, but it is otherwise an incredible book. Otherwise, it is one of the few kid’s books to give the parents a fair shake, showing that they not only have a reason for what they do, but that they do sometimes pay attention, especially when it matters most. Even the little sister pulls her weight, with one of the silliest and grossest pets seen in literature. This is a book that seems slight, but the core of it easily puts it on the shelf of books that we will probably be hearing about for a while.
Jamais “Gilligan” Jochim