Steve Cotler (–2021)

Cheesie Mack has his own website, he has a crazy mystery/adventure, and now he has his own book where he tells you all about his crazy mystery/adventure! In this hysterical book, Cheesie details how he and his best friend find a mysterious envelope, solve the mystery of who it belongs to, almost lose a fortune, and end up at the best fifth grade graduation party ever.

Favorite Bluestem so far this year. It's fast, it's clever, and it's how kids talk and interact. I think kids will really like it and I love the website interaction piece.… (meer)

I had loads of fun reading this funny middle-grades novel with plenty of boy appeal. Ronald "Cheesie" Mack and his best friend Georgie are regular 11-year-old guys -- very believable with their interests in mischief, competition and mess-making. Cheesie's voice is really fresh and amusing, with the ability to make the most mundane everyday events entertaining. There's also plenty of sidetracking into tidbits of trivia on all sorts of topics, as Cheesie is a well-read and well-rounded kid with a wide array of interests and an unflagging curiosity. The book is interactive, too, as Cheesie is constantly inviting the reader to visit his website (CheesieMack.com), which really exists and contains all the cool fun facts and opportunities for readers to contribute that are mentioned in this book (and its sequels). It's quite refreshing to read about boys who "feel" real, in a story that isn't dumbed down or catering to the lowest common denominator. The cartoonish illustrations add zest and amplify the text without overpowering it; this might be a good "step-up" book to try for the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" crowd. I'll definitely be reading Book 2 and the upcoming Book 3 in this series.… (meer)

Cheesie Mack is a 5th grader with boundless enthusiasm and interest in the world around him. Right now, the two biggest things on his mind are the mysterious locket and penny his best friend, Georgie, found in his basement and the news that Georgie's dad lost his job so he can't go to camp.

Then there's Cheesie's horrible older sister, the fifth grade graduation, the pizza party, the great mouse plot, Cheesie's grumpy and eccentric grandfather...and the list goes on. It all comes together when Cheesie and Georgie discover the penny is extremely valuable and have to decide whether or not to give it back to the rightful owner or use the money to send Georgie to camp.

This is a serviceable middle grade humor title, although it's more Melonhead than Wimpy Kid. I didn't see the final art or layout since I read this from a galley. However, a couple things really annoyed me in this story.

First, and this is just a personal dislike, the horrible teen older sibling is really overused in my opinion. Of course, I have met lots of kids who don't get along with their siblings, but I have a hard time imagining that parents would just ignore the nasty squabbling these two indulge in, mostly on June's side. Then again, I've seen this in so many books that maybe it's me who has an unrealistic view of family dynamics. The scene where their dad makes June take off her shorts in front of him and Cheesie, even though Cheesie casually assures us that his family doesn't care about stuff like that...it not only sounded fake, it was extremely weird, verging on creepy. Finally, Cheesie's references to his website every couple pages drove me crazy. Seriously, I am not exaggerating. There's three pages of website references at the end. Too much!

Verdict: If you have kids who want a younger middle grade title with humor, this will fit the bill. The things that annoyed me are really more adult quibbles and most kids won't care. It's a funny story and the characters are amusing and fairly realistic, even if the plot is a bit far-fetched. It's not particularly unique or anything though. An additional purchase.

ISBN: 9780375864377; Published March 2011 by Random House; ARC provided by publisher at ALA Midwinter 2011… (meer)

Cheesie Mack is Cool in a Duel
by Steve Cotler
Random House Books For Young Readers
available June 26,2012
received from NetGalley for review

Cheesie and his sidekick Georgie are back! This time they are in summer camp in Maine, the best camp in the world! The boys are supposed to have the best summer of their young lives. They are scheduled to be the oldest kids in the Little Guy cabin at camp. Well, guess what? It doesn't happen that way. Through chance they end up the youngest kids in the Big Guy camp. Imagine being the only 11 year olds among a bunch of 13 year old boys...Yea, not too much fun. Between the teasing and bullying, it's not turning out to be such a great summer for Cheesie and Georgie. Cheesie decides to challenge Kevin, one of the big kids, to a 'cool duel'. Now, incidentally, Kevin is the boyfriend of Cheesie's older tweenage sister June, also known as Goon.

Cheesie must rely on his wits to win the 'cool duel' contest.

Steve Cotler has done it again! (This is Cheesie's second great adventure). The book is written in the form of a diary from the viewpoint of Cheesie himself. Mr. Cotler has the unique ability to teach young readers to learn. He uses real and made up words with kid friendly definitions, as well as tidbits about history and other interesting facts.

I loved Cheesie's interactions with his older sister Goon. I enjoyed reading about the 'points battle' between the two. This book is full of laughter and learning. Don't forget to visit Cheesie online at CheesieMack.com

Target audience is tween boys. If you liked the "Wimpy Kids" books, you should like Cheesie Mack.… (meer)