Drawing a Blank

DRAWING A BLANK by Daniel Ehrenhaft
Illustrated by Trevor Ristow
Category: Contemporary
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 5/1/06
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman
Rating: 5 Stars

How does one describe Carlton Dunne IV? Here’s how I think he would describe himself:

*Comic book geek
*Trust fund kid
*Loner
*Incapable of being attentive or focused
*Afraid of people
*VERY afraid of female people
*Non-adventurous
*Offspring of a nutcase

Unfortunately, his dad might not be crazy. Carlton’s grown up hearing about some ridiculous, centuries-old feud with some
guy in Scotland. He’s always just assumed it was his father’s insanity, but now his dad is missing, and Carlton’s getting really
weird phone calls. So, the guy who’s scared of people is about to be forced to deal with a whole bunch of them that he’s
never met before. One of those people might be a dangerous lunatic who is holding his father hostage, one of them is definitely
the prettiest girl Carlton’s ever seen, and he’s also about to have the adventure of a lifetime.

Let me start by confessing that I’m not a comic book fan. When I opened the book and I saw a comic strip, I groaned out
loud. See, one of Carlton’s quirks, of which there are quite a few, is that he draws comic strips when he’s unhappy or
uncomfortable. He kind of redraws his circumstances. But I made myself sit down and start reading. Carlton also makes
random comments in footnote form. I like random comments, and that’s what I always thought footnotes should be used for
anyway, so the book started to grow on me. A lot of the footnotes actually contain useful and interesting information, as well.
He also continuously gives birth and death dates, which I didn’t quite get, but still found amusing. I really started to like
Carlton, and his book. By the end I had laughed out loud, in public no less, quite a few times. I’m not saying I’m ready to go
to ComicCon or anything, but I do have a newfound appreciation for comics.