My Life as a Cartoonist

Derek Fallon's well-intentioned plan to help a new classmate takes a hilarious and unexpected turn in this engaging middle grade novel.
There's a new kid in Derek Fallon's class. His name is Umberto and he uses a wheelchair. With his family still fostering Frank the monkey, Derek thinks it would be great to train Frank to assist Umberto. But he quickly realizes that Umberto is definitely not looking for any help. Instead, Derek becomes the target of Umberto's jokes and finds his cartoon ideas being stolen and claimed as Umberto's own. Caught in an awkward predicament, Derek must find a way out of this mess before he becomes the laughingstock of school. The solution may lie in his own cartoon strip—SUPER FRANK!
My Life as a Cartoonist, the third book in the popular "My Life . . ." series, features illustrations by Janet Tashjian's son, Jake Tashjian. This humorous chapter book is perfect for reluctant readers and tackles themes of friendship, disabilities, bullying, and finding one's voice in a realistic middle school setting.