Tyler Evans the Great

Tyler Evans the Great
by Alison Lohans
Published by Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing
Review by Miriam Körner
$ 19.95 ISBN 9781778690228

What does it mean to be a hero? I have no doubt that everyone has a slightly different definition. If you were to ask Tyler Evans in Alison Lohans’ newest chapter book Tyler Evans the Great, he would tell you what a hero is not:

A hero doesn’t let the school bullies take his cookie away.

A hero doesn’t lose a shoe when he kicks a ball.

And a hero doesn’t get his hair ruffled, especially not by his mom.

Could Tyler ever be a hero? Told through the eyes of the young protagonist, this book explores a child’s longing to be a hero for the people (and animals) that mean most to him in his young life: his brother, his single mom, his friends and schoolmates, his dogs and even the robin and caterpillars in his backyard. Tyler tries hard to be a hero, but either he isn’t quick enough and someone else has already stolen the part or his attempts backfire. To make matters worse, his older brother Matt doesn’t let Tyler play video games with him and calls him a brat.

At the core of Tyler’s longing to be hero is a desire that young children can easily identify with: to be accepted by friends and peers and to gain his big brother’s affection.

In eight short chapters, Tyler’s quest to be a hero leads him to invent magic potions, save a caterpillar, eat raw onions and learn to be true to himself. His acts of kindness make Tyler a hero in the eyes of the reader long before Tyler discovers his own self-worth.

Award-winning author Alison Lohans has once more teamed up with her artist cousin Gretchen Ehrsam, whose simple yet effective black and white drawings compliment the written word and add to the appeal for young readers.

Tyler Evans the Great is a humorous story that – like all good stories – captures universal feelings. This chapter book is a great addition to Alison Lohans’ remarkable list of thirty books she has written for children, teens and adults and will make a great addition to the libraries of young readers who appreciate stories in which a hero is not a superhero but a child just like them.

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