Cool Beans: The Further Adventures of Beanboy

Beanboy #2

by Lisa Harkrader

For fans of Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, this sequel to The Adventures of Beanboy combines comic illustrations, a small-town bully facing off against a budding artist, and a rousing, decisive game of dodge ball.

Perfect for kids transitioning between graphic novel and traditional books, this funny and action-packed sequel to The Adventures of Beanboy follows the quirky but likeable Tucker MacBean in his quest to make art—and himself—seem cool in seventh grade.

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Art, Humor, Realistic Fiction

263 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Lisa Harkrader also writes as L. D. Harkrader.

Lisa Harkrader grew up in a small town in Kansas. When she was in the third grade, she wanted to be a writer and an artist. She also wanted to be a spy, a psychiatrist, and second baseman for the Kansas City Royals.Those last three haven’t happened, but she is a writer and illustrator who has published twenty-five books for children. She has received the William Allen White Award and two Kansas Notable Books awards. Lisa Harkrader lives in Tonganoxie, Kansas, with her husband and two children. And she still wants to be a spy.

Reviews

[Cala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to T (7). I did edit out “heck” and a couple other snide remarks a few times. That would be better handled by an older child, in my opinion, but I didn’t feel the need for him to hear it. One “kissing” reference was cute, not bad at all. T made a face at it.

Overall, good book based on morality. I imagine the is series would be best for a slightly older child (8-12?) that can read it themselves, because of the nature of the comics integrated into the text that are a little challenge for a read aloud. But I wouldn’t be opposed to reading others in the series.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit of a stretch for my 1st grader to understand the school dynamics and bullying. He also didn't know how to play dodgeball so we had to talk about the rules of the game. But he liked the comic book feel and followed the story fairly well.

[Taren Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

We had not read the first book to this sequel but I think we caught up quick enough.

What a creative and fun read.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a cute, charming, quick read. I had not read or heard of this series. I picked this book up because I thought my nephews would enjoy reading this book and the idea of progressing from just books to graphic novels I liked. Right now it is kind of hard to find the perfect combination of books for them. They are 9 and 10. So right at that stage where children's books are too easy for them but the teen/young adult books might be too much. Well some of the teen/young adult books. So this book was a good choice. It had a good storyline, fun characters, nice graphic pictures that did not have a bunch of stuff going on but helped to tell the story, and easy to understand words. My nephews can read this book by themselves.

[Faith Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Read for homeschool curriculum.
Not really age appropriate, lots of details to keep track of. I’d say it’s more for 9/10yr olds. Uses words I don’t want my 7 year old hearing/saying: heck, stupid, etc. there’s an unnecessary kiss at the end. The storyline was kinda cute though. I’m just not a sportsy person so I was drawn into it and neither is my kid.🤪 we had to watch a video of people playing dodgeball so she even knew what was going on.😅

[Sammy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main character is a boy named Tucker. Tucker has a little brother that does not speak well. The little brother's name is Beecher. Beecher is being bullied. I think the author put this in because he wants the reader to have some empathy for Beecher. Empathy is when you put yourself in someone else's shoes.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's something about this author who this series and the content that just sucks you in, no matter how much older I think I am. The beginning was a little slow, but eventually I again realized why I loved the first one so much. At about half way through, you're cheering on 'Tut' and his team, and it just turns out great and you're happy, and yeah. Happy sigh

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asher (11yo) read. "I really liked it. It was amazing. Would really like to be on the Artful Dodgers in the Last Player Standing Tournament."

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

My six year old daughter loved reading this one with me!

[Nicolas Fernandez-Feo]

PLEASE LET ME READ IT!

[Justine Trokey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first quarter was a bit of a struggle to get through, but the ending was worth it. It was a great story about defending those who can't defend themselves and taking a stand against the bullies.

[Hayley Fremont · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband read it aloud to the kids. We all enjoyed it.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Jennifer Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn't sure to make of this second book featuring "Beanboy" Tucker MacBean. The book was fine, but I had really enjoyed the humor and heart in the first book, and I felt that this one might not be living up to my expectations.

The story is different -- more of a school story than a sort of coming-of-age story that we got in The Adventures of Beanboy. But there's nothing like a good school story. Like a novel that draws me in as I see themes of my everyday life -- friendship, balance, identiy, motherhood -- reflected in the pages, such is a school story for most kids. They get to read about situations familiar to them, perhaps on a larger-than-life scale, but still relevant to their lives, those things such as homework, fitting in, crushes, bullies and more.

So the topic warmed me up, seeing it as interesting and relevant to kids, and then - bam - suddenly out of nowhere Tucker's sweet spirit reemerged, and I was once again charmed.

Tucker is trying to save the art club. They've already lost their bulletin board to the girls' basketball team, and they've lost a few members who have moved away. What will happen if they keep dwindling? First, the bulletin board and then maybe their whole club? The club is coming up with ideas to try to boost membership, but Tucker has another plan. He has entered the club in the Dodgeball tournament to help them earn some respect, but he needs to get 14 people to sign up or they'll have to forfeit. He knows they have the best name -- The Artful Dodgers -- and he knows they can work well together, but can they stand up to the jocks and make a name for themselves?

There are fun comic book panels throughout the novel, which adds interest to the story.

This novel could easily stand alone, but Tucker's backstory in The Adventures of Beanboy is rich, so if it sounds like a story you'd like, I recommend that you read that one first.

**I received a review copy from Amazon Vine**

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tucker thought life would be so much better after he created comic hero h2o's new sidekick in a contest. But things at school are the same as ever. He is still bullied by super-jock Wesley and his minions. The art club is losing members and its one and only bulletin board. Tucker has to somehow make the Art Club popular so it won't get cancelled. He convinces the principal to let them have a pep rally. The pep rally is awesome until the sports teams highjack it. Next, Tucker starts distributing comic panels of his Beanboy superhero fighting for the arts. To his surprise, the students start really responding to Beanboy, but that doesn't help the Art Club. Then Tucker gets the bright idea to enter the school dodge ball contest. He just has to convince his fellow art clubbers to do it and get them good enough to win against the jocks. He gets help from surprising places and learns more about himself and his friends.

I have not read the first Beanboy book, but that didn't stop me from really enjoying this one. I will admit that I didn't really have high expectations for this one. I thought it would be along the lines of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Middle School books, but it was much better than that. Tucker's story was inspiring and highly enjoyable. I found myself cheering for the art club kids and hoping that would triumph in the end. This is definitely a story about the little guy coming out on top, triumphing over the popular bully. I enjoyed it and I hope kids will as well.

[Kolton Kurtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wanted to be popular? Have you ever wanted to fit in at school? ”Like no matter how hard you try” (Pg.122) you couldn’t fit in? Lisa Harkrader tells the story of two friends during present day America in her realistic fiction, “Cool Beans the Further Adventures of Beanboy”. The two boys’ names are Tucker and Noah. They are just like you and I. Tucker makes comic books and Noah plays an instrument. They are just trying to fit in because they aren’t the most popular people in school. One day there is a dodgeball tournament and that is the perfect chance for them to become popular and you will just have to figure out what happens at the dodgeball tournament. I think this book is a really good book. The narrator (Tucker) tells about himself and his friends and he has files for everybody in the book. Before reading this book I would read the first book “The Adventures of Beanboy”. I recommend this book to someone who likes adventure and who doesn’t want to read a really exciting book.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as good as the first, great series for a reluctant boy reader.

[Carterkempgmail.Com · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very appealing story of underdogs triumphing over the athletic school superheroes. A trifle unbelievable, but so what? I liked this one better than the first.