Agnes: I'm Far Too Young To Look This Hot

by Tony Cochran

Somewhere between here and anywhere, in a trailer park called "The People's Court," lives a bespectacled, floppy-footed girl named Agnes. Her age falls exactly between the wide-eyed times when fairy tales are embraced as truth and the darker, later years when cynicism starts to take its toll. The other players in this small sideshow are Grandma, a hardworking, underpaid Golden Ager who worries that she may be a little too old for the challenge of raising a granddaughter, and Trout, Agnes's best friend. Trout was named after one of her father's biggest passions and, according to her, she was only three numbers from being christened Powerball. Trout tries to temper Agnes's stigmatism of hope with her own doctrine of realism. Together they weather the major tribulations that only childhood can make so monumental. Trout aspires to pilot a soft-serve ice cream machine so all the kids will laugh and yell "Hey, Ice Cream Lady!" Agnes merely wants to be crowned lord queen of the unknown universe. They will probably end up on different bowling leagues.

Genres: Humor, Comics, Cartoon

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great! Agnes is sarcastic, melodramatic, sharp-witted, and has a Calvin-esque gift of word choice. The world Tony Cochran has built is quite small: Agnes, Granma and Trout. Settings are restricted to the trailer home, school, the "secret garden," or general nature scenery. But he has such a great sense of comic timing and knack for funny words and satisfying phrasing that that hardly matters. The 5 strips where Agnes has the misfortune of taking care of the class guinea pig are a wonderfully dark highlight.

Agnes also brings a needed perspective to the funnies page. All the main characters live in poverty, and their circumstances are treated with matter-of-factness rather than made to be the butt of a joke. I'm glad Tony Cochran is writing, and I'm glad his work is collected here and in I Have Tampered With the Divine Plan.

[Tom Romig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite her spare, often grim environment, Agnes is unfailingly upbeat, optimistic, curious, and hilariously inept. That her boundless imagination never seems capable of achieving her fanciful dreams doesn't in the least diminish her charm. Best friend Trout and long-suffering but philosophical Granma are lovely foils to the indomitable Agnes.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a game-changer of a cartoon strip. Agnes lives with her hard-working, non-doting grandmother in a trailer park. Her only friend is Trout, who lives there, too, with her mostly single mother. Agnes' incorrigible imagination and Trout's dour realism make them unlikely pals, but neither is popular at school, not among the students, not among the teachers. Agnes' attempts to fit in by playing softball (not a wise idea) are not a success. It sounds almost like a tragic story of urban youth, but it is, instead, extremely funny.

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a friend who IS Agnes. She should have her name legally changed.

[Wandahost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Agnes is so funny and witty.