Caveboy Dave - Aaron Reynolds
- More Scrawny Than Brawny - Hapless, scrawny Dave must go out on the Baby-Go-Boom ritual along with the other twelve year olds of his village. The problem is that Dave is more of a failed inventor than a fighter. His father invented the wheel and the torch. His grandfather invented fire. No one is impressed with his "fork" or "underwear" ideas, so he must go out with the hunters and take down one of the big six creatures or die trying. It's a prehistoric, less-witty Diary of a Wimpy Kid, drawn in a cartoony, not very appealing style. The setting is sub-Flinstones in its attention to world-building, and the plot meanders back and forth among Dave's crises, the ritual, his friendships, as if trying to find a Learning Moment. At one point Dave saves them all using a lever. You'd think that would be a turning point for his character growth, but no one cares. The next big idea comes from the arrogant bully, and it's a good and useful one. Subverting expectations like that is fine, but there' isn't any accompanying character growth. The humor is strictly kids, Captain Underwear level. Examples: they call the fork a "forf!" At 240 pages, that grows thin. And yet, and yet... It's a silly, fun book with a surprise or two at the end. Not a bad story for kids. [3.5] (For adults, the rating is decidedly lower.)
