Game On (Prank Wars #1) (Louise Park & Mo Johnson, illus Jules Faber, Larrikin)

If Game On is any indication, Louise Park and Mo Johnson’s new series, Prank Wars, will be a hit with middle-grade readers who are high in energy and imagination. It’s a fun read for those aged 8+ who are happy to suspend disbelief and who enjoy the occasional poo, burp, or overflowing-toilet joke. Alongside the more frivolous elements are generous dollops of wholesome sibling and family relationships, celebrations of individuality and growth, and positive modelling of creative problem-solving, persistence and teamwork. When the terrible Cruelly kids infiltrate Hannah and Jake Vann-Wong’s neighbourhood, the siblings make a fantastical discovery: their family are all secret agents in a generational good-vs-evil prank war for which they must now step up and train with the help of their family dog, Ziggy, who has his own special powers. Jules Faber’s black-and-white illustrations, which will be familiar to readers of Anh Do’s WeirDo series, are combined with illustrative typographic features, including oversized comic-style onomatopoeic exclamations, to augment the novel’s driving energy. This style will appeal to less confident readers who love the Wimpy Kid or Treehouse books. Park (who writes under pseudonyms for bestselling series including Zac Power and Boy vs Beast) and Johnson introduce some memorable characters who will hopefully evolve as the series progresses, adding more depth to the slapstick fun and chaos.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Anica Boulanger-Mashberg is a freelance editor and writer, and a bookseller at the Hobart Bookshop. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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