Drawing a Blank: Or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams - Softcover

*Starred Review* Gr. 8-11. Surprising in format as well as plot, Ehrenhaft's novel intersperses chapters of first-person narrative with episodes of Signy the Superbad, a superhero comic strip drawn by the narrator and inspired by his experiences. For Carlton, drawing comics is both a way of life and a retreat from it. Shipped off to a New England prep school by his distant father, who seems obsessed by an ancestral Scottish feud, Carlton copes by going through the motions at school and drawing his own alternate reality. A phone message from his father's kidnapper jolts him into action--and divides the novel into before, when Carlton's life features classmates barging into his room to conduct their annual "Who-Would-You-Bang Forum," and after, as Carlton and his enigmatic new friend Aileen roam the Scottish countryside attempting to find Carlton's father and recover an ancient dagger. For a self-described misanthrope, Carlton makes a very engaging character, caring but wary, vulnerable but game, and readers occasionally willing to suspend disbelief will find the narrative highly entertaining and sometimes enlightening. Intermittent footnotes supply information on various people (Dylan Thomas, Keith Richards, etc.) and facts and fictional details (prehistoric stone circles, a recipe for bannocks, Carlton's half sister's imaginary friend). A fresh, effervescent combination of mystery, adventure, and teen angst. Carolyn Phelan
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