Russell returns to the journal-style format of her bestselling Dork Diaries series as she introduces a hapless, comics-loving boy named Max who recounts many of his woes while stuck inside his school locker. Featuring the same doll-like black-and-white cartooning style and lined-paper backgrounds of the Dork Diaries books, the story strikes an awkward balance between slice-of-life underdog problems and over-the-top plot developments, shifting into the latter after Max escapes his locker and attempts to live out his superhero fantasies by foiling thieves who have infiltrated the school. Unfortunately, the book's comedy is forced and often misses the mark, weighed down by tired catchphrases ("Don't get it twisted!"; "That was just wrong on so many levels!") and gross-out gags, such as when Max imagines peeing on school bully Doug "Thug" Thurston in a fight-or-flight response. Early on, Max cautions that those who don't like "comic book cliffhangers" may not want to continue, but that caveat may not prepare readers for just how unsatisfyingly and abruptly Russell concludes her story. Ages 9-13. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (June)

Poor Max Crumbly! Stuffed in his locker for the second time in one day! Thinking he might never get out, Max decides to chronicle his first two weeks of eighth grade at South Ridge Middle School in his journal least then there will be a record of what happened when his body is found. Coming from seven years of homeschooling, Max dreamed of being a superhero here; instead, he's school-bully Doug "Thug" Thurston's new favorite target. Luckily, Erin Madison rescues Max from his first involuntary locker vacation, but Thug strikes next after everyone has left for a three-day weekend. Enduring a few hours of cramped conditions, Max escapes through the back of his locker, where he crawls through ductwork, foils a robbery, and saves the school's new computers! This wacky middle-school misadventure will delight Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates fans, particularly with its humorous tone and illustrations. Russell's new series boasts a memorable character in Max Crumbly, who is capable of rivaling Dork Diaries' Nikki Maxwell. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Russell's enormously popular Dork Diaries pushed her to the top of the best-seller list. Expect no less from her new series.

This is Max Crumbly's first experience in public school, and so far he's vomited on bully Doug "Thug" Thurston, forfeited a race due to his insistent bladder, and been locked in his locker—but it's still better than home-schooling with Grandma.Humiliation's a bummer, but cute Erin Madison seems friendly, so the asthmatic, white eighth-grader perseveres. Max laboriously introduces his quirks (chiefly a preoccupation with bathroom functions, but he also likes comic books and rap), his supporting cast, and plot elements in an illustrated "journal" that's marked by many exclamation points and cross-outs. The latter can be baffling; readers will understand why Max seeks to conceal his crush on Erin from his putative audience (and himself), but why redact "I could eat a bowl of alphabet soup and POOP better lyrics!"? Pacing is uneven: the action doesn't really get underway till about the two-thirds mark, when Thug locks Max up again, this time for a long weekend, and the would-be superhero discovers three inept burglars as he tries to escape—and then the story ends on a cliffhanger. Even given its conscious nod to comic books, the plotting is implausible and the prose often painfully artless ("That's when I excitedly came up with a brilliant plan!"), making its eighth-grade authorship all too convincing.This spinoff is heavy on the poop jokes and light on almost everything else—readers expecting a boy Dork Diaries with equal nuance may be surprised. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)