about the book
Quiet, good-natured and a little sardonic, Tucker MacBean is neither the most popular seventh grader nor the least popular kid in middle school. Mostly, he stays invisible and draws comics, especially his very favorite superhero, H2O. He knows it’s uncool, but he still waits fervently each month to get the latest edition.
After a quick stop to pick up the newest issue, Tucker rushes home to meet his little brother’s bus. Beecher is a special-needs child, and Tucker cares for him while his frazzled mother works at the bank and then goes to her college classes. She’s kind of a ghost—hardly ever home. Since his dad left, their only contact is an occasional e-mail. With their family unraveling, it’s been pretty tough for Tucker, Beecher, and his mom.
Sharing the comic with Beecher, Tucker spots a page announcing the Dark Overlord Sidekick Contest. All Tucker has to do is create and draw a new superhero sidekick for H2O. The prize is a full college scholarship. If Tucker won, his mom could quite working! It takes him some time to come up with the right name and superpowers for his sidekick-let’s just say it involves lethal beans and stunning flatulence!
To get help preparing his entry, he asks to join the after-school art club. But he is shocked when he gets home and discovers that Sam, his arch nemesis, is babysitting Beecher! Will Sam stand in Tucker’s way of getting the college scholarship prize for his mother? It’s going to take a real superhero is get around Sam!
about the author
Lisa Harkrader grew up in a small town in Kansas. Since third grade she wanted to be a writer and artist…or a spy…or a psychiatrist… or the second baseman for the Royals. Though she didn’t have a chance at the last three jobs, she has been an illustrator and writer for ten years, authoring more than twenty fiction and nonfiction books for children and a whole slew of short stories, articles, and poems. Before that she was a substitute teacher and graphic artist.
Although she was never interested in comics or drew comics, she did do the illustrations for The Adventures of Beanboy. She got the idea for Tucker’s story after listening to Garrison Keillor on National Public Radio talk about two boys who outsmarted the bullies who were making their life miserable. From there, the characters of Tucker and Sam just developed.
To help her get Tucker’s character spot on, Lisa turned to her teen-aged son Austin. He even forged Mrs. MacBean’s signature that is included in the book. Beecher’s character is inspired by Lisa own special-needs daughter, Ashley.
Lisa is not sure why she is drawn to writing about middle grade boys. Someday she’ll write a book with a girl protagonist. She thinks it would be fun to do Sam’s point of view. At the moment, she is working on the sequel tentatively named Cool Beans: The Adventure Continues.
Lisa and her family live on a farm outside the little Kansas town of Tonganoxie.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview : LJ World
Author interview : Writers Who Kill
Also by Lisa Harkrader:
Cool Beans : The Further Adventures of Beanboy. HMH Books for Young Readers. 2014.
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