The Fast and the Furriest

Starred review from July 13, 2015
In what reads like a love letter to racing comics like Speed Racer, Soo (Jellaby) presents a highly entertaining trio of stories about March Hare, a talented racer who's a good sport, too. In the first story, March must enlist the help of his large and enthusiastically supportive family to beat his win-at-all-costs competitor, Lyca Fox, in a street race; after March's hot hatch is damaged during the race, he borrows a side mirror and quarter panel from his parents' station wagon. In the second tale, March and his eager porcine mechanic, Hammond, help one of March's sisters deliver apple tarts in her VW bus; Soo labels various vehicles' features throughout, and he gives a hilarious schematic breakdown of the apple tarts, too, pointing out their "brown sugar butter glaze" and "pâte sucrée base." The stories are filled with puns and literary references (March Hare's name evokes both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Speed Racer's Japanese name, Mach GoGoGo), while Soo's clear-line illustrations keep the stories moving full throttle and reveal an evident automotive passion. Ages 7â10. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency.

July 15, 2015
Known as "the fast and the furriest," March Hare and his porcine sidekick, Hammond, race to adventure in three different illustrated tales. Butter-yellow March Hare loves to race his robin's-egg-blue GT-R racer and certainly has the need for speed. His cheerful pink friend (and sole pit-crew member), Ham, is perpetually at his side and ready to help. Together, they speed through three different episodes contained within this one volume. In "The Race at Harewood," they face off against Lyca the fox, a sneaky driver who is March's greatest rival and will stop at nothing to win. In "The Baker's Run," March and Ham become impromptu delivery boys for his sister April's bakery, but they seem to care more for speed than getting her tarts to their destination. In the last piece, "The Great Desert Rally," the duo again faces Lyca on a remote and dangerous course, causing them to grapple with the question of how much victory is really worth. Vibrant and energetic art mingles with buoyant action and a perky message of friendship, creating an extremely lighthearted, breezy yarn with a decidedly Saturday-morning-cartoon feel. While the characters and plot never dig too deep beneath the surface, the nonstop energy and cheery morals should easily push this past the finish line. An unfalteringly sunny, action-driven collection. (Graphic adventure. 7-11)

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October 15, 2015
Grades 2-5 March Hare is a terrific race-car driver, but that doesn't stop his family from embarrassing him! Will he learn important lessons about loving family, helping people, and demonstrating sportsmanship, or will his need for speed leave his family in the dust? Appropriate to its source materialAesop's The Tortoise and the Hare Soo's story teaches its readers much-needed life skills, but it doesn't ever stint on the fun. The series is perfect for car and racing fans. There are diagrams of the various vehicles, the first and third races are based on actual car races, and there are puns galore, everything from a cat racer named Lemieux to characters named for the hosts of the British car show Top Gear. The plots of the three stories are very simple, so as not to get in the way of the action. Soo's colorful art brings to life the thrills as his anthropomorphic characters careen through a variety of locales. Give this to the next young patron who checks out the movie Cars.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)