Weissman, Steven. Chewing gum in church; a Yikes! collection.

WEISSMAN, Steven. Chewing gum in church; a Yikes! collection. Fantagraphics. 96p. c2006. $14.95. 1-56097-736-1. SA

Weissman's fourth volume in the Yikes! Collection series features a combination of four-panel strips (with each panel promising "at least one joke") and one-panel pages, featuring little monsters named Kid Medusa (a pigtailed Gorgon), Li'l Bloody (a vampire), Dead Boy, Pullapart Boy and the seemingly non-monster character Chubby. This collection follows them through their trials and tribulations and their interactions with each other.

Cutely drawn characters against a candy-colored setting sharply contrast with the overall themes of this darkly humorous book. The characters can be often cruel or apathetic to each other and many of their jokes employ a highly sardonic tone. In one scene, Pullapart Boy is being ridiculed by some human kids who accuse him of "smelling worse than the Holocaust"; in another Li'l Bloody and Pullapart Boy find an injured bird, and when faced with the option of helping it, Li'l Bloody answers that "it's easier not to do anything." This collection is better suited to older readers; it may titillate fans of South Park and the recent A.L.I.E.E.E.N. by Lewis Trondheim (First Second, 2006). An optional purchase for most libraries. Jennifer Feigelman, YA Svcs. Libn., Goshen PL, Goshen, NY

S--Recommend for senior high school students.

A--Recommend for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.