Mighty Jack
Illustrator
Ben Hatke; Alex Campbell; Hilary Sycamore
Publisher
First Second
Publication Year
2016
ISBN
9781626722651
Pages
208 pages
Genre
fantasy
Format
graphic novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
Jack might be the only kid in the world who's dreading summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk―to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made. In Mighty Jack, what starts as a normal little garden out back behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything…a dragon.
Grade Level
3-5; 6-8
Lexile Measure
GN490L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Disability and Health; Single parent; Poverty; Developmental disability; single mother; impoverished family; financial hardship; autism; autistic sister
Main Character
male teenager
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
single mother
Awards
Cybils Awards, 2016, Finalist, Graphic Novel
Maine Student Book Award, 2018, 2nd Place, Grades 4-6
Kirkus Book Review Stars, 2016
YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens, 2017 Fiction
YALSA Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, 2017
Keywords
magic seeds; exchange; summer; garden; kidnapping; two jobs; plants; sword fighting
Diversity Impact
indirect
STARS Citation
Hatke, Ben, "Mighty Jack" (2016). Diverse Families. 2009.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/2009