*Starred Review from Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Books
Excerpt:
“Benny copes with [his many problems] the same way most readers will cope with their own—by keeping one eye on his many assets while juggling everything at once. Mom teasingly calls him Mr. Negativity, but readers who are privy to Benny’s inner workings will recognize that there’s less pessimism than smart snarkiness at work, and that Benny’s penchant for argument is his way of working through problems out loud. Johnson handles this with humor, respect, and restraint, allowing his protagonist to engage readers rather than dazzling them with authorial swagger. If Hilary McKay wrote guy books, this is what we’d get—and that is praise indeed.”