Varmints

by Andy Hirsch

Overview

Opie and Ned are adrift in the Old West, searching for the man who shot their Ma. These two youngsters only have each other, but with all their squabbling it's a miracle they still have that.

When they get wind of the mysterious Pa ("crime kingpin of the West!"), Opie and Ned suddenly have something new: a mission. But tracking down the elusive (and deadly) Pa is going to take all the wiles these two kids have, and some new friends to boot.

Clever, explosive, and deeply moving by turns, Varmints is a perfect middle-grade comedy graphic novel. Hirsch brings an old-school Western style to bear on a story full of nuance, humor, and surprises.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626722798
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Andy Hirsch is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Dallas, Texas. The third of four children, he was born in Minnesota, migrated to Texas at a young age, and studied comics in Savannah, Georgia. He previously illustrated the graphic novel The Royal Historian of Oz, which was listed as a 2013 YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens, and has contributed to the Garfield, Regular Show, Adventure Time, and Peanuts comic book series.

Editorial Reviews

07/25/2016
Hirsch’s (The Royal Historian of Oz) Western comic offers wall-to-wall mayhem, from saloon brawls and train wrecks to a massive road race whose winner will get to meet the West’s most dangerous criminal. Gruff, coonskin-cap-wearing Opie and her younger brother, Ned, fend for themselves amid the chaos (some of which, admittedly, they cause). Opie’s chip-on-the-shoulder attitude hides shame: she feels responsible for their mother’s death, and she knows who their real father is, a secret she’s keeping from Ned. Sunny Ned, by contrast, trusts everyone. This would seem unwise in a Wild West full of ruffians, but it works. When faced with a mute giant of a man clad in bearskin, he asks, “How’d you get so big? Is that a real bear yer wearin’?” winning him a powerful friend. The allies Ned charms help the pair along the way until the final, mighty showdown. Hirsch’s art is a tornado of energy, the pace approaches mania (there’s even a Broadway-style musical number), yet Ned and Opie survive and grow in the midst of it. Give this to action-hungry readers and stand back. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"In a series of set-piece chapters, Hirsh chucks the young searchers into saloon brawls, gunfights, and encounters with a massive mountain man clad in a bearskin onesie and a motherly if larcenous woman of low virtue, among other dust-ups."—Kirkus

"...kids who want to sign on for more Wild West mayhem are bound to get their wish."—BCCB

From the Publisher

There are not many Westerns out there for youngsters, and this graphic novel tries to fill that void. Opie and her brother Ned are on a quest: to find Pa, who isn’t your typical Westerner. Aside from being Opie and Ned’s father, he apparently killed his wife and is now known as the “Criminal King of the West.” But there are questions. Did Opie and Ned’s father really do all those horrible things? Could Opie have stopped him from killing their mother? The action is frenetic, starting with a “borrowed” horse and progressing through a meeting with a giant-sized stranger, rescued horses, a wild ride on a stagecoach, a dangerous race, and a showdown with Pa. Gunplay and sibling squabbles erupt throughout the story. The illustrations consist of typical cartoon characters and bright colors. This story owes a debt to The Wizard of Oz, but it also displays enough ingenuity to stand on its own. Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks: too much dialog, too much activity, too many characters, and flashbacks that do not work very well. There is a good story in all of this, but the reader has to work to find it. It appears that this book is the first in a series. There is definitely room for more Western graphic novels; and if today’s writers are willing to go back to the genre’s roots established by such legends as Owen Wister and Zane Grey, they are likely to find an eager audience. Reviewer: Leona Illig; Ages 6 to 10.

Children's Literature - Leona Illig

10/01/2016
Gr 4–6—Opie and her younger brother Ned travel through the Wild West to find the man who shot their mother. They begin to track a notorious criminal known as "Pa" and, along the way, meet an assortment of hardened criminals and sympathetic animals. Opie and Ned make a compelling pair. Opie is a tough survivor, while Ned's bratty behavior can't hide his loving, insightful side. The action doesn't stop: the children escape a train full of gangsters, win a horse race on a donkey, and run a criminal out of a hotel bar. Some of the scenes, easily recognizable as Wild West tropes by older readers, may be less appropriate for younger ones: the narrative opens with gambling and a bar brawl. The colorful cartoon illustrations aren't graphic, but Opie and Ned are threatened with guns multiple times. The siblings are white, and the few Native American and Mexican characters are incidental and often stereotypical. For instance, in the horse race, the children compete against "Joe Twelve Paw" and "Javieeer Ruiz." VERDICT With plucky protagonists, nonstop adventure, and slapstick humor, this tale has plenty of kid appeal, but its violence and use of stereotypes make it more appropriate for upper elementary readers.—Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2016-07-02
Two children get into one pickle after another as they search the Old West for their elusive dad.There’s never a dull moment as Opie (Calliope, but woe betide anyone who calls her that) and pesky little brother Ned chase rumors of their pa’s whereabouts—being as he’s universally feared as “the criminal king of the west,” there are plenty of rumors—while a posse of disasters rides hot at their heels. In a series of set-piece chapters, Hirsch chucks the young searchers into saloon brawls, gunfights, and encounters with a massive mountain man clad in a bearskin onesie and a motherly if larcenous woman of low virtue, among other dust-ups. Finally Opie and Ned brave a booby-trapped underground lair to confront one of Pa’s “representatives,” a lowdown snake who killed their mother. Beneath a prized coonskin cap that, according to Ned, smells “like ten butts,” Opie’s orange hair glows as brightly as her feisty spirit in the neatly squared-off cartoon panels. Horses and other livestock (plus the odd jackalope) show as much personality as any of the two-legged characters. Amid the large typecast array of white gamblers, cowpokes, Pinkerton agents, settlers, and outlaws, the author floats an occasional darker-skinned or Native American figure. Yee-haw! Pa never does show up, but there are plainly more misadventures in store before trail’s end. (Graphic Western. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews