Bound To Stay Bound

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School Library Journal - 04/01/2013 PreS-Gr 2—Rocco believes that his superpowers come from his hair-an Afro with golden brown ringlets that surround his head. The more it grows, the more awesome his powers become. His superhero friends, who also have long locks, watch in awe as he whooshes and zooms through the day wearing his lightning bolt T-shirt and star-studded cape. Together he and his friends are unstoppable, until the day they are hauled off to the barber shop. After Rocco's hair is cut, he escapes back to his hideout, dragging his legs in defeat. Visions of a flying barber wearing Rocco's ringlets and slam-dunking a basketball cloud his worrisome mind. A lurking girl quietly places her doll on the monkey bars and cries wolf. Rocco and his friends race to the scene and save the day, learning that even without their long locks they are still indeed super. Bold, colorful pen-and-ink illustrations burst with power from each spread in comic-book style. This story will make a feel-good impression on budding comic book/superhero fans.—Krista Welz, The North Bergen Public Library, NJ - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 06/01/2013 Rocco and his three scruffy, wild-mopped pals are surely endowed with superpowers. How else could they dirt-bike off a milk carton and board ramp, skateboard over toy cars and trains, kick down stacks of Legos, or leap from a ladder into a wading pool? Rocco is certain that the source of his own power is his hair-a monstrous halo of reddish-brown kinks nearly as high as he is tall. Imagine, then the horror of being captured (by your father) and “dragged away to the villain’s lair” (the barber shop) where your dynamic force is reduced to a sad pile of clippings. Rocco’s concern that the barber will curtail his powers is only matched by his fear of what his friends will say-but when they meet up at the playground, the whole crew is similarly shorn. Fortunately, a little girl sizes up their situation and takes pity. Stranding her doll atop the monkey bars, she calls out for a hero, thereby restoring the friends’ raison d’être: “After we saved the day, it was obvious that even without hair . . . we were STILL SUPER!” Adult Rocco (Blackout, BCCB 6/11), who provides proof of his superpowered locks in a juvenile photograph on the jacket flap, has a fine time pumping up this wild memoir with comic-book conventions from speech bubbles to splash pages, Ben Day dot backdrops to sound effects. Colors fade to gray tones when the boys hit the depths of their despair, and rebound to full color as they race to the rescue and set their world aright. Hand this to kids who embrace the comics-style picture books of Kevin O’Malley. EB - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 05/01/2013 Given the gigantic bouffant a young Rocco is sporting in his author shot (not to mention our main character’s name is “Rocco”), we’re probably safe assuming this is based on a true story. Character Rocco believes that his unruly hedge of hair is responsible for his superpowers—you know, upside-down tire-swinging, bicycle jumps, and the like. Together with his three wildly haired friends, they are a force of justice, until Rocco is “captured” (in the family station wagon) and dragged to the “villain’s lair” (the barbershop), where he is removed of most of his hair. He tries hair replacements—leaves, a mop, his dog—to no avail. His similarly shorn friends are just as dejected, until a chance to save the day on the playground proves that they are more than their dos. Rocco (Blackout, 2011) does not let a single illustration go by without an emotional undercurrent: the superhero world is backgrounded by biff-pow cartoon textures while the hairless adult world is a pale gray. Great fun, and that aforementioned author photo serves as the surprise ending. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

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