The Handbook
By Jim Benton
2017
First Published
3.66
Average Rating
242
Number of Pages
Jim Benton, bestselling author of Dear Dumb Diary and Franny K. Stein, brings us a fresh new middle grade novel about breaking all the rules! There's nothing Jake likes more than some good trash-picking, so when his elderly neighbors move out and leave an especially promising-looking pile of household refuse on the curb, he goes right for it. He only has the chance to grab one box before his mom catches him and orders him in for dinner, though. When mysterious goings-on begin to occur in the neighborhood, the trio investigates the hidden box from Jack's garage. In it, they find the Secret Parent's Handbook and with it all the means to subvert the irrational rules and petty tyranny of their home lives. No more clean rooms! No more vegetables! No more brushed hair or washed hands! It's all videogames and junk food all the time! But the authorities—and the resistance—have taken notice of the strange goings-on in Jack and his friends' neighborhood. And they are closing in . . .
Avg Rating
3.66
Number of Ratings
117
5 STARS
22%
4 STARS
32%
3 STARS
36%
2 STARS
8%
1 STARS
2%
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Author
Jim Benton
Author · 64 books
Benton began his career in a custom design t-shirt shop where he started designing his own characters. At the same time, Jim did illustrations and artwork for magazines and newspapers. People magazine named him "the most visible cartoonist in America" . Benton also created greeting cards and worked in the magazine and publishing industry. In 1998, his SpyDogs characters became an animated series, The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs, that aired on Fox Kids. Licensing his own creations brought them widespread attention on products, such as It's Happy Bunny, The Misters, Just Jimmy and more. Benton currently lives in Michigan, where he operates out of his own studio.
