Don't Call Me Sidekick!: The Contract by Brenda Hickey

I'm in the mood for some cute, graphic novel adventure and fun. I'm hoping today's read will be exactly what I'm looking for. The cover looks promising with the cute cat and hints of fantasy. The girl looks friendly, too. With the title, The Contract, I'm thinking this might be all about these two characters getting together. After all, this is the first in the brand new series. 

It's a shorter read with under 100 pages and for the upper middle grade audience. So fast and quick? Maybe, it's one for reluctant readers as well.

Let's open it up and see what this word is all about!

THE CONTRACT

Don't Call Me Sidekick! #1

by Brenda Hickey

Pegamoose Press

Upper Middle Grade Fantasy  /   

Graphic Novel

92 pages

ages 10 to 14

COMING DECEMBER 23rd!!!

Enter Hazelton Academy, where an unlikely duo must pull together to battle the monsters not just outside their school walls, but within.

Kailee Hazelton has a lot to live up to, and it's off to a bad start. After being publicly rejected in front of the whole school by her partner, a magical Neysa creature named Ary, she finds herself at odds with her family and unsure of her dream of joining the Phantom Guard.

But hot-headed Ary is nobody's sidekick, and she's got good reason for bucking back against the system - one of her Neysa friends has mysteriously vanished and no one seems to want to do anything about it.

But trouble isn't just brewing inside the school walls. A Phantom attack on the city catches them unprepared, and they must put their differences aside to face the threat.

GOODREADS    /     PUBLISHER

MY TIDBITS

Misunderstandings lead to messages about trust and forming friendships with cute characters, magical powers, and evil beings, who want to eat them all.

Kailee is super excited to finally be assigned to a partner, a magical Neysa creature, which will help her channel magical powers to protect against the Phantoms. While all the other students in the class form the bonds with their chosen Neysa, Kailee's refuses to complete a contract with her. Since Kailee is from one of the most respected families...and nothing like this has ever happened before...she's more than pressured to convince Ary to fulfill its role and finish the bond. Ary, however, refuses to even talk to Kailee. Of course, Ary has reasons for refusing to be 'used' by a human, but won't tell anyone what they are and leaves Kailee hanging. Add that a Phantom has managed to sneak into the town and is posing a growing threat, and the stakes are higher than either Kailee or Ary know.

The first pages spend a bit of time building the backstory, which was very helpful, since it gives the reader an understanding of the system between humans, Neysa, and Phantoms before meeting Kailee and Ary. When the reader finally meets Kailee and Ary, the reader can easily understand the situation and feel the awkwardness right along with Kailee. And she has a lot to deal with thanks to Ary. Not only does she face light bullying but there are parental expectations and pressure. Ary. instead, comes across as a little unkind and rebellious as it fights against the system its suppose to follow. While this makes Ary edgy and not 100% likeable at first, the illustrations balance it out with the visual cuteness to hint that things will change in the attitude soon. There's character depth and arc, which also propels the tale forward. There's tension and danger thanks to the Phantom, too, but this is more of a 'first taste' of what promises to be a more mysterious series. This first volume seems to simply set up the foundation, leaving it clear that there's much more to come.

This is a quick, short read, which flows by smoothly. Much of this is thanks to the short length; it's just enough to let readers have a first adventure and get to know the characters. The graphics are easy to follow and bring the scenes across nicely. This balances well with the text and lets the emotions come nicely, letting the dialogue hit just right. The text itself is kept to the point and never grows wordy. I'm surprised that this is being sold for the tween audience, since it slides nicely into the middle grade level from the writing as well as the plot. At least, this first volume works very well for readers of this lower age group as well.

It's a nice beginning to what promises to be an interesting series.