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The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley Book Review

The Dumbest Idea Ever! by Jimmy Gownley
Publisher: Graphix an imprint of Scholastic Inc.
Release Date: February 25, 2014

At thirteen, Jimmy Gownley was at the top of his class, smart, popular, and a star basketball player. After spending nearly a month at home sick with chicken pox and then pneumonia, Jimmy loses his way a bit. However, with the production of his first comic book to his first trip to an art museum, Jimmy knows that his future lies with comics.

Jimmy Gownley is the author and illustrator of the Amelia Rules! series, a series that I am only vaguely familiar with mostly because I worked in a bookstore for years.The Dumbest Idea Ever! is an honest account of how plans can be turned upside down and that sometimes there is something even bigger and better around the corner. A memoir told in a way that is sure to catch the attention of its target audience of 8-12 year olds, it is a nice reminder that everyone (even children) have some difficult times and how important a creative outlet is. For Jimmy, who must have dreamed of being a basketball star in his youth, his true calling turned out to be that of an author and illustrator of comic books.

Jimmy was also given the encouragement by a friend to write what he knew, a story about his own life. As dumb as that idea may have sounded, his friend was offering something that every writer is taught. Although I would venture to say that it isn't just about writing what you know, it is also about writing what you want to know. I kind of wish that more children's authors would write bios, because there are some really great life stories out there that I am sure kids would love to read, but instead they are told like secrets at writer's conferences and in lecture halls.

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