Drawing a Blank: Or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams

That phrase means "my hovercraft is full of eels" and is from Simon Ager's Useful Scottish Gaelic phrases web site (http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/gaelic.php). I'm sure that Aileen would love and possibly USE that phrase! What a wonderful book! I loved it and couldn't put it down. I will recommend it to many of the YA readers who frequent my library. If you like Scotland, comics, adventure and/or goofy and fun books, then this book is for you! I hope there there are more to come for the team of Ehrenhaft and Ristow. Enjoy!

Drawing a Blank or How I Tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams has a lot going for it. In addition to having a very straightforward, no holds barred, title Drawing a Blank also includes illustrations by Trevor Ristow. More surprising (to me) was that I was already familiar with the book's author, Daniel Ehrenhaft. In 2002 Ehrenhaft, writing under the pseudonym Daniel Parker, published the Wessex Papers trilogy. The three books (Trust Falls, Fallout, Outsmart) won the Edgar Award in 2003 for Best Young Adult Mystery. I didn't know any of that while reading the Wessex Papers (or this book), but am inclined to agree with the hype. Like the Wessex Papers the writing here is smart both in the sense that it is clever and that it leaves readers thinking. The story (as the full title explains) follows Carlton Dunne IV as he tries to rescue his father who is embroiled in an age-old family feud with another Scottish clan. In the process, Carlton runs away from his boarding school, visits the comic con from hell, meets a crazy girl who wants to be on "Cops" and continues working on his comic strip that runs in a local paper (thus the illustrations and the comic con debacle). As you might have guessed, Carlton wears many hats. Carlton is also a really fun character, likably neurotic he brings to mind the protagonist of the Wessex Papers. A fact that makes sense when you realize the novels were written by the same person. Although the book is a significant length, the chapters are short--averaging about three pages at a run. This is good because you can read them quickly. On the other hand, Ehrenhaft's preference to end chapters on a cliff hanger becomes redundant after the eightieth time. The story takes a while to get to the action, a fact Carlton himself acknowledges early on in a note at the front of the book. The time, however, is well-spent introducing memorable characters and explaining Carlton's personal history. Most of the book understandably takes place in Scotland, but the scenes at Carnegie Mansion--Carlton's boarding school--are a lot of fun even if they do more to set up the plot than actively set it in motion. I'd recommend Drawing a Blank for reluctant readers who don't read for lack of interest (even though the chapters are short with a fairly large font, the presence of footnotes and an involved plot might be daunting for readers who might read below level). Although this book is a bit more zany than any of the Wessex Papers, I'd also recommend it for fans of that series.

Drawing a Blank was about how this young, cartoon aritist goes on this journey to Scotland because his father was kidnapped. Hid Dad's family has gone way back with this rival clan about how their two families fought for Agricola's Dagger. Carlton also met the love of his life throughout his journey. My favorite part of the book was when Carlton went to Comic Expo in place of his father. Carlton wrote comics for this newspaper and said that his Dad made them. Carlton's Dad had no clue about writing comics and his boss invited him to Comic Expo. Carlotn went in his place and saw some very interesting people. I think it was funny because his Dad had no clue about Carlton's job writing comics. Overall that was my favorite part in the book. I deffinetly recommend this book. I thought this book was really good. The beginning of it wasn't that good but the end was awesome. The beginning was kind of boring but the end sure wasn't. This book showed me that nothing is impossible. Carlton Solved a Mystery, Ended a Feud, and Landed the Girl of his Dreams all in one adventure. He wasn't even one of the popular kids, he was just a kid at a private school that sat in his dorm and created comics. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a funny book with a great storyline and message.

How does one describe Carlton Dunne IV? Here's how I think he would describe himself: *Comic book geek *Trust fund kid *Loner *Incapable of being attentive or focused *Afraid of people *VERY afraid of female people *Non-adventurous *Off-spring of a nutcase Unfortunately, his dad might not be crazy. Carlton's grown up hearing about some ridiculous, centuries-old feud with some guy in Scotland. He's always just assumed it was his father's insanity, but now his dad is missing, and Carlton's getting really weird phone calls. So, the guy who's scared of people is about to be forced to deal with a whole bunch of them that he's never met before. One of those people might be a dangerous lunatic who is holding his father hostage, one of them is definitely the prettiest girl Carlton's ever seen, and he's also about to have the adventure of a lifetime. Let me start by confessing I'm not a comic book fan. When I opened the book and I saw a comic strip, I groaned out loud. See, one of Carlton's quirks, of which there are quite a few, is that he draws comic strips when he's unhappy or uncomfortable. He kind of re-draws his circumstances. But I made myself sit down and start reading. Carlton also makes random comments in footnote form. I like random comments, and that's what I always thought footnotes should be used for anyway, so the book started to grow on me. A lot of the footnotes actually contain useful and interesting information, as well. He also continuously gives birth and death dates, which I didn't quite get, but still found amusing. I really started to like Carlton, and his book. By the end I had laughed out loud, in public no less, quite a few times. And I'm not saying I'm ready to go to ComicCon or anything, but I have a newfound appreciation for comics. Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

Subtitled: Drawing a Blank: Or How I tried to Solve a Mystery, End a Feud, and Land the Girl of My Dreams Told through the eyes of 17-year-old Carleton Duane (the IV), the story takes us from a boarding school in upstate Connecticut, to New York City, to Scotland. Carleton is a rather reserved teen who has been sent to a ritzy boarding school. He is artistic and spends time in class doodling and drawing his comics (which are printed in the local paper under his father's name--whom the editor to believes he is). Carleton's life is thrown into chaos when he receives a late night phone call from Scotland telling him that his father has been kidnapped, and the only way to free him is to bring the "proof" of this age-old feud between two Scottish clans. The problem: Carleton believes his father was nuts, that the feud was made up. He has no idea what the "proof" required is. What follows is a wacky tale of Carleton's travels to try and rescue his father. Carleton sneaks out of school to go home to New York City, usetting off a panic about his disappearance. His apartment was ransacked by someone else looking for the "proof" his mysterious caller had mentioned. A very strange last will and testament written by his father years earlier (which refers to the feud but does not explain it at all) was in his father's desk drawer usually kept locked. He flies to Scotland, and is almost run over by a van. A girl, who might not be what or whom she seems to be, rescues him. Author Daniel Ehrenhaft and artist Trevor Ristow have collaborated to make an intently humorous story. Ehrenhaft's delightful tale is punctuated with Ristow's drawings that illustrate how Carleton looses himself in his drawing and uses his comics to explore his emotions at the time of drawing. While not a graphic novel, but fiction with inserted illustrated comic pages scattered throughout the book, it might also interest fans of the graphic novel genre. Armchair Interviews says: Readers will have a fun time reading about Carleton's travels; finding out how he manages to solve the kidnapping mystery; end a feud that has lasted generations; and find the time to meet the girl of his dreams.