Peanut

Peanut by Ayun Halliday and Paul Hoppe is definitely different than anything I’ve reviewed before. It’s about a girl named Sadie who fakes having a peanut allergy when she moves to a new high school. The reason for this, I do not know. She starts her year in homeroom with a horrible, insensitive, algebra teacher named Mr. Larch. He makes it clear that he cares nothing for his students. After school Sadie calls her old friend, Cheryl. After camp, Cheryl had become mean and sassy. A few days later, Sadie meets a boy named Zoo. Anything else I could say would be a spoiler.

Paul Hoppe’s artwork in Peanut is very simple. It seems like its drawn with a pencil. I don’t really like or dislike the style. It’s really normal.

    

I would say buy it. The story is really deep. Once you start reading, you can’t stop. It just came out the day after X-mas so it’s probably in your local bookstore.

Do you want to know a fun fact? The writer of this book is my MOTHER. :D

Now I have an exclusive interview with the author

Milo: Why does Sadie fake a peanut allergy?

Ayun: I think it’s pretty human to dream up a scenario in which you have a condition or circumstance that causes people to treat you differently, maybe think of you as brave, or glamorous, or incredibly interesting. If she was being really melodramatic, she could have told people she had cancer, something that has a history of being portrayed unrealistically in tragic lovestories meant to appeal to audiences her age. But that wouldn’t have been too fun to write. I think readers would have really disliked her for telling such a whopper, as would I. So I had her choose something kind of ridiculous, on impulse, after a chance encounter with a girl who actually does have a peanut allergy. The stress of having to keep up appearances has its funny side,  and I think if readers are being honest about human behavior, they will have a little sympathy for her.

Ayun: Now I have a question for the Graphic Novelolgist, stemming from the fact that I have a different take on Mr. Larch than you do.  I see him as someone who cares about his students, even though his fussy formality keeps them at arm’s length.

In my mind, Sadie is one of his favorites. What do you think would have happened if she had confessed her secret to him? What about Nurse Andy, whose character is perhaps more to your liking, as, it was inspired by someone from your elementary school.

Milo: I have no idea what would have happened if she told Mr. Larch, but maybe if she had told Nurse Andy, Nurse Andy could have convinced her to tell her friends. They most likely would have been a bit sympathetic. (SPOILER ALERT) They probably would have been glad that Sadie told them instead of her lie getting out in some big public incident.