Hyper to the Max. (The Secret Games of Maximus Todd). L. M. Nicodemo. Illustrated by Graham Ross. Halifax, NS: Formac, 2016. 96 pp., hardcover, $14.95. ISBN 978-1-4595-0419-6. Grades 1-3 / Ages 6-8. Review by Andrea Boyd. *** /4

excerpt:

Echo?! Max's jaw dropped and his stomach did a sudden flip. As long as he hung around the twins, he would have TWO times the rhymes. Two, four, six, yikes!

Now he was in DOUBLE TROUBLE!

Max hopped from one foot to the other in a panic. He had to think of something fast. Square, fun, square, fun –

"I see a bear so I better run," he said, a little too loudly.

Maximus Todd—the kid who can't sit still! Hyper to the max, Max comes up with a clever plan to control his Super Fidgets. One school day when he woke up bursting with energy, he swore to himself an oath that he would preoccupy his brain by playing a mind game where, whenever anyone spoke to him, he would have to reply with a rhyming sentence. He hoped that this game on the inside would make him less hyper on the outside. To make the game easier, he aimed to avoid talking to people at all costs that day…but that didn't last long. Max's peer, pesky pest, Mandy Beth Bokely, caught on to his rhyming game in the morning on their walk to school and set her mind on making him lose. Determined to not let that happen, Max steps up to the challenge. With loads of quick thinking, Max manages to successfully win at his game after a day full of humorous rhyming responses. Together, Max and his arch enemy, Mandy Beth, share a laugh at the end of the school day as she gives up and crowns him with the title, "King of Rhyme."

      Hyper to the Max is the fourth book in Nicodemo's "The Secret Games of Maximus Todd" series, and fans of will enjoy this latest offering. The book is a great beginning chapter book for young readers, and the use of large, bold fonts to exaggerate certain words and phrases throughout each page of the book makes it appealing to an elementary-age audience. In addition to the large and diverse fonts, the ratio of text to Graham Ross's illustrations is approximately 50:50 making Hyper to the Max a less intimidating read than many other chapter books. A fabulous addition to school and classroom libraries.

Recommended.

Andrea Boyd is an elementary school teacher in Winnipeg, MB. She loves reading, writing, and sharing these passions with her students.

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