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My Weird School Graphic Novel #1
Mr. Corbett Is in Orbit!
Graphic novel fans, prepare for liftoff! New York Times bestselling author Dan Gutman and illustrator Jim Paillot have brought you an all-new series of My Weird School graphic novels! In this first book, A.J. and his friends at Ella Mentry School are headed on a field trip to NASA headquarters. But their tour guide, Mr. Corbett, is a total space cadet! And what happens when A.J. accidentally launches the whole class into outer space?! Full of visual gags, space aliens, and hilarious full-color illustrations, this is the weirdest graphic novel in the history of the world! With more than 30 million books sold, the My Weird School series really gets kids reading!
96 pages, Paperback
First published January 5, 2021
162 people are currently reading
2586 people want to read
About the author
Dan Gutman
358 books1,036 followersThe author of over 80 books in a little over a decade of writing, Dan Gutman has written on topics from computers to baseball. Beginning his freelance career as a nonfiction author dealing mostly with sports for adults and young readers, Gutman has concentrated on juvenile fiction since 1995. His most popular titles include the time-travel sports book Honus and Me and its sequels, and a clutch of baseball books, including The Green Monster from Left Field. From hopeful and very youthful presidential candidates to stunt men, nothing is off limits in Gutman's fertile imagination. As he noted on his author Web site, since writing his first novel, They Came from Centerfield, in 1994, he has been hooked on fiction. "It was fun to write, kids loved it, and I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is to take a blank page and turn it into a WORLD."
Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.
Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
January 21, 2022
I’m thrilled that Dan Gutman created new stories for his Weird School graphic novel series. I won’t be able to keep these on our shelves! I love that there is humor throughout the book that adults can appreciate too. In this book (the first of the graphic novel series), the kids go on a field trip to NASA headquarters. Their tour guide, Mr. Corbett is a bit flaky and somehow AJ manages to launch them into space. Will they be able to figure out how to get back to Earth?
April 7, 2022
For 2nd and 3rd graders, this book makes rearing so much fun!!!
June 1, 2021
Any time a popular series is turned to a graphic novel, kids are excited. This will bring new life to a well-loved series and allow the excitement to grow again!
February 19, 2021
I loved this! I can't wait to read the all.
December 19, 2021
I used to love reading My Weird School as a kid, and I see it has expanded further. The transition to graphic novel is a little rocky but not bad. The authors even included a survey to review how they’re doing with their first comic attempt.
You can tell the characters are copied-and-pasted and manipulated to do a few poses. I get it. Taking shortcuts as an artist is certainly fine, especially with lengthy projects like graphic novels. I only point it out because it gave the artwork such a stiff feeling.
Anyway, the story’s nonsensical but fun. At one point, AJ and Andrea argue over killing aliens or not. Yeah, the story’s wacky as you would expect. There are a lot of well-meaning facts in the story from climate change to NASA. The running gag” …That’s when the weirdest thing in the history of the world happened” always felt like an awkward transition to me. But I also fully acknowledge I’m not the intended demographic. I’m sure kiddies will have a blast like I used to do with the chapter books as a kid.
You can tell the characters are copied-and-pasted and manipulated to do a few poses. I get it. Taking shortcuts as an artist is certainly fine, especially with lengthy projects like graphic novels. I only point it out because it gave the artwork such a stiff feeling.
Anyway, the story’s nonsensical but fun. At one point, AJ and Andrea argue over killing aliens or not. Yeah, the story’s wacky as you would expect. There are a lot of well-meaning facts in the story from climate change to NASA. The running gag” …That’s when the weirdest thing in the history of the world happened” always felt like an awkward transition to me. But I also fully acknowledge I’m not the intended demographic. I’m sure kiddies will have a blast like I used to do with the chapter books as a kid.
September 30, 2021
2 stars
This graphic novel adaptation of the widely popular My Weird School chapter series was true to the original story style. I can see why these books appeal to upper elementary and early middle school readers. I would recommend them for the age group of 9+. The chapter lengths and reading level are well-manageable for this age group. There are enough words and reading involved in this graphic novel that teachers would be satisfied with this item on a reading list.
The book provides a lot of interesting information about climate change, space, and NASA, intermixed with dialogue between the characters. Each character has a unique voice and adds a different element to the story. I really liked the author’s notes at the back of the book that give readers information on how to make a positive difference in the fight against climate change.
Note - I am a middle school teacher and find it hard to view books like this without an “adult” perspective.
That said, personally, I did not care for this book. I found there were many cons with this book:
I found the main character to be a verbal bully toward several of his classmates, without any redirection of his could-be hurtful behavior. – Derogatory commentary about personalities and outlooks.
The book literally gives young readers a step-by-step guide on how to be disrespectful, manipulative, and ornery toward parents and other adults.
I thought the flow of the story was a bit disjointed and random.
The beginning part of the story gave us a lot of very interesting facts about space and NASA, which is great. Unfortunately, they were mixed alongside false, sarcastic information. Without prior knowledge of what is true and what is untrue, as a young reader, I would not know what information to believe. I would leave this book believing untrue things.
~ Miss Emily
This graphic novel adaptation of the widely popular My Weird School chapter series was true to the original story style. I can see why these books appeal to upper elementary and early middle school readers. I would recommend them for the age group of 9+. The chapter lengths and reading level are well-manageable for this age group. There are enough words and reading involved in this graphic novel that teachers would be satisfied with this item on a reading list.
The book provides a lot of interesting information about climate change, space, and NASA, intermixed with dialogue between the characters. Each character has a unique voice and adds a different element to the story. I really liked the author’s notes at the back of the book that give readers information on how to make a positive difference in the fight against climate change.
Note - I am a middle school teacher and find it hard to view books like this without an “adult” perspective.
That said, personally, I did not care for this book. I found there were many cons with this book:
I found the main character to be a verbal bully toward several of his classmates, without any redirection of his could-be hurtful behavior. – Derogatory commentary about personalities and outlooks.
The book literally gives young readers a step-by-step guide on how to be disrespectful, manipulative, and ornery toward parents and other adults.
I thought the flow of the story was a bit disjointed and random.
The beginning part of the story gave us a lot of very interesting facts about space and NASA, which is great. Unfortunately, they were mixed alongside false, sarcastic information. Without prior knowledge of what is true and what is untrue, as a young reader, I would not know what information to believe. I would leave this book believing untrue things.
~ Miss Emily
November 25, 2020
My students LOVE the My Weird School books! I know when they are given the chance to hold the continuing story of the graphic novel version they will be waiting in line to check it out!
AJ and his friends visit NASA and find theselves launched into orbit with Mr. Corbett - who keeps fainting when her realizes what has happened. AJ and the gang have to navigate space in order to make it safely home. This is a fun story, complete with fun illustrations. When I read the main series aloud to classes, the kids always clamor to see the illustrations, and now they will be able to see and read the stories more easily for themselves. What a brilliant idea; My Weird School in graphic novel format. Thank you, Dan Gutman, for continuing to give young readers just what they want and need to hook them into reading.
AJ and his friends visit NASA and find theselves launched into orbit with Mr. Corbett - who keeps fainting when her realizes what has happened. AJ and the gang have to navigate space in order to make it safely home. This is a fun story, complete with fun illustrations. When I read the main series aloud to classes, the kids always clamor to see the illustrations, and now they will be able to see and read the stories more easily for themselves. What a brilliant idea; My Weird School in graphic novel format. Thank you, Dan Gutman, for continuing to give young readers just what they want and need to hook them into reading.
January 16, 2022
This graphic novel for ages 6-10 is hilarious. It took me less than a half hour to complete, so is very accessible to early and reluctant readers. The "protagonist", A.J., is a snotty kid (I mean that in the slang way) with a bad attitude, but like the Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, it is so obvious that he is not to be used as a role model. It is packed with funny bits all over the place, and I love the art. The last 2 pages have a serious note about climate change, explaining that you should ask your parents to vote for politicians that will help the environment, how to write to your politicians, and organizations you can go to on the web to learn more about it. Other than that it was a snoozefest. NOT! I'm just taking on AJ's persona momentarily.
January 5, 2021
I don't know why, but I'm not sure that the humor of a "My Weird School" story converts easily into graphic form. It certainly didn't here, where the story seemed clunky and forced into the graphic format. Among other things, A.J. came across as a jerk and an idiot to the point where he just wasn't very funny.
That said, it was weirdly a sequel to one of the original text stories, and it had both serious and silly moments of science and space stuff. I think that at least some kids who are fans of the series will like this, but I'm not sure that this graphic novel will draw kids to the original series.
That said, it was weirdly a sequel to one of the original text stories, and it had both serious and silly moments of science and space stuff. I think that at least some kids who are fans of the series will like this, but I'm not sure that this graphic novel will draw kids to the original series.
November 14, 2020
I received an eARC courtesy of HarperAlley & Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.
I am quite familiar with the original book series, but I have never read one of them. Overall, I think the art has great appeal to kids and the story is that completely absurd style that really appeals to kids. For me? Not my style. At all. But I know it will be very popular. That I have no doubt about.
For Libraries: I think this is a perfect fit for fans of the original series & fans of silly graphic novels. It might even be a new way to introduce new fans to the series.
I am quite familiar with the original book series, but I have never read one of them. Overall, I think the art has great appeal to kids and the story is that completely absurd style that really appeals to kids. For me? Not my style. At all. But I know it will be very popular. That I have no doubt about.
For Libraries: I think this is a perfect fit for fans of the original series & fans of silly graphic novels. It might even be a new way to introduce new fans to the series.
January 10, 2021
Kids Who Love the “My Weird School” series will go crazy for the new Graphic series!
A great beginning to the Graphic version of the beloved “My Weird School” series. Kids who are wild about the chapter book series will no doubt be anxiously waiting for each new addition to the graphic series. It is just as silly as the chapter books, but the colorful illustrations really add to the fun. It has the potential to be one of the best graphic series for kids in the earlier elementary grades.
A great beginning to the Graphic version of the beloved “My Weird School” series. Kids who are wild about the chapter book series will no doubt be anxiously waiting for each new addition to the graphic series. It is just as silly as the chapter books, but the colorful illustrations really add to the fun. It has the potential to be one of the best graphic series for kids in the earlier elementary grades.
January 11, 2021
Mr. Corbett is in Orbit is a great little graphic novel that cleverly weaves together two high-interest topics for young people: climate change and space. I can see both reluctant and insatiable readers fighting for their turn to read this zany tale! It also sneaks in some solid science, beginning with a clear, simple explanation of climate change's causes and real life consequences, and ending with notes and resources for young readers inspired to fight climate change. A wonderful blend of exciting, funny storytelling and science!
September 9, 2020
I love that Weird School is getting a graphic novel series. And they are just as punny and fun as the other series. This is the first book where the kids end up launching themselves into space and must save the world from climate change. This is a great series. It works well as a high low book, a graphic novel, or just an easy chapter book.
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January 8, 2021
This book is hilarious and I can’t wait to book talk it! I know the kids are going to love it as much as I did. Weird School is a staple at every elementary and this one is going to have a waiting list a mile long. It felt like Weird School meets Dogman meets Magic School Bus.
February 24, 2022
A.J. and his friends take a field trip to NASA, where A.J. accidently launches the rocket him and his classmates are on along with Mr. Corbett. This zany, wild, and far fetched tale of space travel is filled with jokes, puns, and a pinch of facts about global warning.
September 1, 2024
Same but different
Ah yes the usual weird story, story. My kids found it entertaining but a bit difficult to follow along without looking at the pictures.... I know its a graphic novel...;-)
Ah yes the usual weird story, story. My kids found it entertaining but a bit difficult to follow along without looking at the pictures.... I know its a graphic novel...;-)
Want to read
August 5, 2020Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
January 31, 2021
This will be very popular with the kids at my library!
Had me laughing out loud. A good graphic novel for kids just starting to read chapter books.
Had me laughing out loud. A good graphic novel for kids just starting to read chapter books.
February 3, 2021
This series works great as a graphic novel. I especially enjoyed that my favorite bus driver shows up in this one. Bingle Boo!
February 8, 2021
Loved it! What a funny book!
February 9, 2021
Kids who love the My Weird School series will love this graphic novel. Had me laughing from the dedication on!
Want to read
March 16, 2021My 2nd grader LOVED this book - mostly because it's silly, but she also enjoyed the space facts. A fun book for those early elementary readers.
April 30, 2021
This book was funny, but it's way funnier as a graphic novel.
May 17, 2021
My Weird School is one of my favorite book series. It's a lot of fun to read! I love that this book is about NASA.
July 26, 2021
My daughter and I read this out loud together. It's about a class field trip to NASA that ends up in Earth's orbit! Very fun with great age-appropriate illustrations and lots of humor!
July 27, 2021
I haven't ready the My Weird School series but they seem to translate well to graphic novels due to their colorful illustrations and humor. I'd read more!
September 1, 2021
Hard to know what to rate this as I really did not like it, but it is not aimed at me so I gave it a middle of the pack rating.
March 14, 2022
My son loved this book will reread this one.
May 4, 2022
Best one yet!
I Love graphic Novels! I love the My werid School! I must say this is my second favorite besides Me .Kormal isn’t normal!
I Love graphic Novels! I love the My werid School! I must say this is my second favorite besides Me .Kormal isn’t normal!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews