Super Friends!

In Super Friends!, which is the fourth book of the “Simon and Chester” graphic novel series, Chester makes a new (human) friend when classmate Amie invites him to be her partner for a science project. Chester tries his best to make Amie feel welcome in his home, something which makes Simon more and more jealous as the story progresses. To add insult to injury, it turns out Amie’s dad is a ghost catcher, and, not only is Amie convinced that all ghosts are bad, she wants to capture a ghost for their science project. Meanwhile, Simon seeks advice from a ghost friend who is convinced it’s the humans who are bad. Simon and Chester’s friendship is tested throughout the story, but, in the end, they realize just how important they are to each other—which is a good thing, considering the cliffhanger ending leaves me confident they are going to need each other’s help in the next book!

This might be the strangest sentence I’ve ever written in a book review, but here it is: the butt jokes in this book are spot-on. Full marks for butt humour (okay, that might have been the strangest sentence). In all seriousness, here’s the thing: there is a fine line between bathroom humour and family-friendly, butts-are-funny humour, and Atkinson has nailed it. How one achieves a tasteful fart joke is beyond me, but look no further than Experiment #2 in this book for an example. It’s a masterclass in engaging young readers.

The story in Super Friends! is fairly emotionally charged; readers can almost feel Chester’s stress level rise as he tries to not hurt Simon’s feelings while still hiding the fact that his best friend is actually a ghost. There’s a lovely heartfelt message in the story about maintaining friendships while allowing both parties to grow, change, and build new relationships…and then an adorable ghost makes buttcheek-prints in flour. It’s all about balance. I also need to give a special mention to the return of Simon’s skinny jeans. Still funny, three books later.

I am at the point now where I can’t imagine NOT loving a Simon and Chester adventure. These books deserve a spot alongside other top-ranking duos like Elephant and Piggie or Calvin and Hobbes.