Calamity Jack

Image courtesy of Bloomsbury

Bibliography

Hale, Shannon, Dean Hale, and Nathan Hale. Calamity Jack. New York: Bloomsbury, 2010. Print. ISBN 9781599903736

Plot Summary

Jack grows up stealing and scamming people. His mother runs a bakery and barely manages to make ends meet since Jack’s father died. His mother learns he has been scamming people only when he is arrested trying to rob a bank. Jack makes up his mind to never scheme again, except the lines between good and evil aren’t so easy to see. Witnessing his mother taken advantage of by the giant Blunderboar, he decides one last scheme could set things straight. Jack’s plan backfires as his magic bean stalk tears up his mother’s home and bakery while Blunderboar kidnaps his mother.

Critical Analysis

In this steampunk style graphic novel, Rapunzel and Jack take on the mission of rescuing Jack’s mother from the giants who are dominating the city. Jack realizes he must save the city of Shyport from Blunderboar also in the process since he is not the low-life schemer that he once thought we was. Readers identify with Jack as his reputation in folktales is the same in this graphic novel – one of an extremely poor kid just trying to help out his family. Adding dimension to his character, he also schemes for other poor people who seem to be taken advantage of.

Rapunzel, Jack’s partner in the mission becomes his love interest as a juicy subplot of love trickles into the story. In steampunk style the real heroics are often females as Rapunzel is the true strong arm here, almost always saving the day. Splendid action scenes show Rapunzel’s amazing ability to strangle, swing, and catch people with her long links of hair. Prudence is a fairy and summons her fairy community to save the day as well. Ultimately, Jack hopes to give his mother golden eggs from the stolen magic goose so she can rebuild her house and bakery. Small touches of magic provide interesting appeal without venturing too far from this alternative reality.

Amazingly detailed graphics spotlight inventive machinery made by the bad guys and by Freddie, who fights on Jack’s side throughout the tale. Returning from out west, Jack and Rapunzel’s mission is in the city of Shyport. Graphics of the setting from Blunderboar’s suspended penthouse to cityscapes and underground sewage tunnels are superb. Characters of varying backgrounds are uniquely portrayed through their speech and clothing. Overall, Calamity Jack is a gripping story of a boy making the decision to set things right in order to become the good man he wants to be.

Awards and Review Excerpts

YALSA Great Graphic Novel

Junior Library Guild Selection

School Library Journal Best Comic for Kids

Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year

From Kirkus Reviews: “Populated with ant people, giants, pixies and even a Jabberwock, this fantastic yarn has something for everyone.”

From Publishers Weekly: “The dynamic artwork fits well with Jack and Rapunzel's quick tongues, as they flirt their way through numerous hair-raising situations.”

From School Library Journal: “The decision to make Jack a little more vulnerable and Rapunzel a little stronger allows young readers to identify with either character, without being constrained by the character’s gender.”

Connections

Pair with reading of Rapunzel’s Revenge. ISBN 9780747587439

Respond to the author, Shannon Hale on her blog page at oinks.squeetus.com.

Utilize the teaching guide materials on the author’s webpage, squeetus.com.

Shake up another favorite fairy tale with steampunk style or another. Kids will love to create their own graphic novels. What a great opportunity for kids to work in cooperative groups. After all, Shannon Hale worked with her husband and illustrator to make these books come to fruition.

Students may want to invent a machine like Freddy in makerspaces.

Connect the story to learning about steam engines. Furthermore, launch a research into energy efficiency and environmental responsibility amongst various energy resources.