Fry Guys by Eric Geron & Jannie Ho

This cute graphic novel for children also found an avid reader in myself, lover of all things potato and puns.

Good friends Curly, Waffle and Sweet are musing over how life could be more exciting in their small town of Spudsville, Idaho, when the worst happens and they get exactly what Waffle wished for: adventure! Unidentified Flying Onion (rings) have begun terrorizing the residents of Spudsville, zapping everything that moves with hot grease. The Mayor is too scared to come out of his home, so it’s up to our intrepid trio of Fry Guys to get to the bottom of who these UFOs are, what they want and how to stop them from doing more harm.

At first, things go well, especially when Waffle figures out how to infiltrate the UFOs’ ranks. But when the driving force behind the dastardly villains kidnaps the mayor, will even the courage and pluck of the Fry Guys be able to save their town from certain doom?

This was a funny and absorbing quick read, chock full of humor in both the writing and in the hilarious visual jokes Jannie Ho sneaks into the background of almost every panel. The drawings are relatively unsophisticated, a la Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man series, which only adds to the visual appeal for young readers who prefer this cartoony style.

I did think a little something was lost towards the end of the book, as there was some confusion as to the characters and development of Curly and Waffle. It seemed a little odd that Waffle wasn’t the outright hero of the piece, and I hope that has nothing to do with how Waffle is coded as female whereas Curly is coded as male. None of that is explicit tho so who knows, I might just be reading too much into it. Also, who’s the Mayor now?

This is a fun book good for reluctant readers and anyone who enjoys uncomplicated humor and food puns. You might find yourself overthinking things if you, like me, are a parent who wants her kids to have all sorts of good role models free of society’s unwitting prejudices, but that isn’t a bad thing either!

Fry Guys by Eric Geron & Jannie Ho was published September 26 2023 by Andrews McMeel Publishing and is available from all good booksellers, including