“The Manny Files”
by Christian Burch (Aladdin Mix, 9781416955344, $6.99, ages 9 to infinity)
This is a book to read aloud with the family, to give to ailing friends who
need a chuckle, or to just keep handy for those days when your inner
sunshine is feeling partly cloudy. I averaged four laughs per page myself,
and I’ve seen several folks buy a copy only to return the next day for two
more.
When nine-year-old Keats and his three sisters tear through a string of
nannies, who they’re looking for is a modern-day Mary Poppins; who they
find, the Manny, is closer to a kid-friendly David Sedaris. Their male nanny
(an idea that totally blows Keats’s mind), is wackiness incarnate, but he
and his fancy socks soon become an important part of the family. (His
specialty is meeting the kids at the bus stop in a costume signaling that
evening’s dinner menu. On taco night, it’s a poncho and sombrero ensemble,
with the family’s youngest child dressed in a coordinating Chihuahua suit.)
While Keats himself is shy and thoughtful, his sisters are a handful: India
is an old-soul diva in an eleven-year-old body. The youngest, Belly (short
for Mirabelle), is a crazy little thing who likes to get naked in public,
particularly in public fountains. Lulu, the oldest, is at that awkward tween
age when a wrong look or word can set her off, especially if that word is
“panty-hose,” “moisture,” or “saliva.” (Not that Keats would ever, ever
whisper such things at the dinner table.)
The Manny’s arrival delights Keats but puts Lulu on the warpath. She begins
recording his every fault in a tell-all notebook she dubs “The Manny Files,”
with plans to both publish and perish him. All through this sibling war of
wills, the family is growing and changing: Uncle Max returns to town,
Grandma moves into the living room in a big hospital bed-cum-throne, and the
whole clan enjoys a fishing trip down a lazy river. (They even derive a
family in-joke from a curiously named fishing lure, the “green butt skunk.”
Try it out yourself: “Don’t be such a green butt skunk!”)
“The Manny Files” is a clever, joyful read for all ages--anyone with kids,
siblings, or an oddly hereditary sense of humor. It’s a portrait of a busy
modern clan that reminds you why you love your family--and why it feels so
good sometimes to unload them at the bus stop. Its important truth is this:
no one bugs you like relatives, but also, no one can make you laugh so hard.
Review by
Mark David Bradshaw, July 31, 2008
P.S. Christian Burch’s wonderful follow-up, “Hit the Road, Manny,” is due
out September 23, just in time for fall road trips! Call us to pre-order.
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