Magic Pickle

Magic Pickle
Scott Morse

My Rating: 4 out of 5

Genre: Graphic Novel

Magic Pickle is the hilarious tale of the accidental experiment by world-renowned scientist, Dr. Jekyll Formaldehyde, who one day (in 1951) drops a pickle from his lunch into the path of an experimental particle confabulator. The molecular structure of the pickle was altered and enhanced, and a new muscular, intelligent, talking pickle was created! At a failed attempt to recreate super-strength vegetables, Dr. Formaldehyde only creates super-strength veggies that are rotten and evil! The newly created brotherhood of rotten produce escape into the world, and disappear into hiding. Dr. Formaldehyde decides the only way to one day effectively combat the evil produce once they are found is to put Weapon Kosher into a cryogenic sleep so his powers can be supercharged. Over fifty years later, Weapon Kosher is awakened and crashes through the floorboards of preteen Jo Jo Wigman's room. JoJo is a typical school girl who has best friends and mortal enemies. Both are confused and surprised by one another's presence, but eventually come to accept one another, and work together to capture the evil produce.

Magic Pickle is first in a series of graphic novels by Scott Morse which chronicle the adventures of Jo Jo and her superhero pickle. I think Magic Pickle, is a great series for students in fifth grade through eight grade. The quirky dialogue and endless supply of puns in combination with the fun, elastic illustrations make this a fun read for middle-grade readers. The graphic novel is a relatively new genre to have in the classroom. It is appealing to readers of all levels because of it modern, comic book style along with limited words on the page. It is a great way to get reluctant readers interested in reading.