At first I thought "a picture book about Elvis?? Do kids even care about Elvis?" But this turns out to be a graphic novel about how music changed the author's life as a boy, specifically the birth of rock and roll and and especially Elvis Presley's talent. He makes it a personal and funny story: his mother can't stand Elvis' music, he does his hair up like Elvis and practices "air" performances in his bedroom with a tennis racket. The best part is his air performance at the Cub Scout dinner. By now readers will want to see his much-hyped 4th grade class picture, and the author doesn't disappoint, providing the story after the story. Like the spirit of early rock and roll, the pictures and text are bold, big, noisy and fill every page. Very fun. ( )

In Stamaty’s autobiographical comic/picture book, he tells the story of how Elvis changed the course of his life. The story starts in 1955 when Mark receives his own radio to put in his room, which at the time was a big deal. About a year later he first hears Elvis on the radio and falls in love, but his mom rushes up in a fit yelling “that’s the wailing of a lunatic.” Just about every child will experienced a similar reaction from an adult in their life and laugh out loud at her over reaction. In the end Mark’s mom gives in and he is allowed to listen to Elvis and start on the path to impersonating his idol. The story itself is catchy, but the hilarious illustrations and use of text make the story impossible to put down. Specifically the portrayal of the radio is great, with the music flowing out of it in a phonetic garble of letters rather than just plain song lyrics. The book also gives a bird’s eye view into a middle class child’s experience of the 1950s and could be a supplementary material for history class. Any child would love this endearing story and perhaps be opened up to the further possibility of biographical literature. Highly Recommended. ( )