The Misadventures of Salem Hyde Books 1-4 by Frank Cammuso
The fourth book in this series is nominated for a Cybil this year so I decided to go ahead and read the entire series to get a feel for it. I usually do that when I'm a judge, if it's a reasonable amount of books. This was a fun series!
by Frank CammusoMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hardcover, 96 pages
Published October 1st 2013 by Amulet Books
Source: local library
The Misadventures of Salem Hyde (1)
Salem is a little girl with normal parents but has a great-aunt who is a witch. She's inherited the gene and is a head-strong girl who hasn't been able to control her magic or spells. Along comes Whammy to be her teacher. This is a cute, funny comic book drawn in monotone with shades of green. The humour is aimed at kids with the occasional joke or two aimed up higher to the adult who may be reading the book to the intended audience. This works well and kept me, the sole reader, interested. Both Salem and Whammy appeal to me and it's certainly the kind of thing I'd have loved at that age. Look forward to the next story.
by Frank CammusoMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hardcover, 96 pages
Published May 20th 2014 by Amulet Books
Source: local library
The Misadventures of Salem Hyde (2)
This is a cute little series particularly aimed at girls. Full of hi-jinx and escapades with no lessons learnt, Salem and her teacher, Whammy the cat, annoy each other but are becoming good friends. I particularly like the art which in this book is b/w drawings with shades of pink. The cover is pink and book one had a green cover with the illustrations inside shades of green. Cute and funny.
by Frank CammusoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hardcover, 96 pages
Published October 14th 2014 by Amulet Books
Source: local library
The Misadventures of Salem Hyde (3)
My favourite one so far! This one has an orange cover so by now we know that means the illustrations will be coloured with shades of orange. A girl scout themed story only here they are called the "Squirrel Scouts". Salem gets to wear a uniform, endures the hardships of door-to-door cookie selling and finally camping. Of course, she's plagued by spells going wrong causing havoc at every turn but she's improved a bit since the first book and does get one right now and then at least when it comes to fixing her mistakes. This continues the humour on two levels reaching both the intended audience and the adults who may be reading too. I'm charmed with this cute series.
by Frank CammusoMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Paperback, 96 pages
Published April 21st 2015 by Amulet Books
Source: local library
The Misadventures of Salem Hyde (4)
This series gets better and better. Book 4 had me laughing out loud. Starting off with a hilarious dead goldfish sketch, I eagerly turned the page for Salem's next 'misadventure'. Salem's spells don't exactly go wrong in this volume as she gets the results she's looking for, but they create a havoc she hadn't expected. The story is hilarious with lots of gags and humour on two levels, one for the kids and the other reaching out to the adults. I especially giggled over a scene with Whammy trying to tell Salem about a dog he had called Old Yeller. Salem turns the humour into a joke about the lame name and giving examples of better names for a yellow dog, but when she asks what tricks could he do like perhaps play dead ... well, Whammy, gets all sad. And I just cracked up! Speaking of yellow, keeping to the theme of these books a yellow cover means the illustrations inside are b/w drawings coloured with shades of yellow. The yellow isn't as vibrant as the other books, but I like the way Cammuso brought the colour itself into the story this time. This is a really fun series, with just a hint of dark humour but full of cuteness and hi-jinx. I'd certainly recommend for libraries.
PS. Book 5 is aready out too, just a few weeks ago! Frozen Fiasco. My library doesn't have it yet so I'll wait until the new year to read it.
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