By Zack Rosenberg and Victor Fust
Sixth grade is hard enough without a chaotic creature permanently attached to your side.
In T.S. Hullabaloo, authors Zack Rosenberg and Victor Fusté present a humorous middle-grade graphic novel that gives physical form to the anxieties of growing up. Jack Daring just wants to blend in, but his life is upended when a mischievous, cat-like entity known as a Hullabaloo latches onto him. This unwanted guest wreaks havoc at home and school, making Jack feel like an outcast. However, as he interacts with his peers, he realizes many of them are secretly managing their own Hullabaloos. Illustrated by Sarah K. Turner, the story balances comedy with genuine emotion as Jack learns to embrace the disruption rather than fight it.
This book is a gold-standard “hi-lo” option for educators supporting reluctant readers or those with reading difficulties. With a verified Lexile of HL360L, the text is significantly more accessible than standard middle-grade fare, yet the themes of identity and self-acceptance remain age-appropriate. A major asset for the classroom is the use of a dyslexia-friendly font, which reduces visual stress for struggling readers. The sentence structure is straightforward, favoring simple and compound phrasing, while idioms are kept conversational to mirror real student speech. Turner’s vibrant, full-color art provides crucial context clues; for example, an ELL student can understand the chaos of a cafeteria scene through the visuals alone, bridging gaps in vocabulary. Recognized by School Library Journal, this graphic novel is a practical, empathetic tool for building reading confidence.
