Review: Zits: Chillax by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman

Zits: Chillax by Jerry Scott
Illustrated by Jim Borgman
Paperback, 256 pages
Published: May 21st 2013 by Harper Teen
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Comic god Stan Lee says Zits is a "comedic masterpiece!" Fans of funny illustrated YA novels such as Drama by Raina Telgemeier and Teen Angst? Naaah... by Ned Vizzini will definitely want to read Zits: Chillax. In Zits: Chillax, Jeremy Duncan, high school sophomore and future rock god, offers up a comedic outlook on teenage life, including school, parents, chores, bands, and friends. Jeremy and his best friend, Hector Garcia, are planning to achieve a lifelong dream...going to a rock concert! Without parental supervision. But the Gingivitis concert falls on the same night their friend Tim is donating bone marrow for his mom, a cancer patient. Not a problem: Jeremy and Hector are determined to go to the show...for Tim. Written and illustrated by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman, Zits: Chillax is based on their comic strip, Zits. The book features 300 illustrations--including hilarious full-page comics.

My Review:

This book follows around Jeremy Duncan, a high school sophomore with a very weird outlook on girls, feelings, and music. You can't help but laugh out loud at some of the things that go through Jeremy's head. Jeremy and his friends are in a band and wildly into head-banging heavy metal. Jeremy and his friend Victor have purchase tickets to see their favorite band Gingivitis concert from a friend but they both need to get parental consent first. The book shows Jeremy’s thoughts on what he is trying to do to get his parents to go to let him go to the concert and what he can do to help his friend. They also encounter some problems with Jeremy and Victor’s shared van that doesn’t like to start and has a hole in the roof. This problem ends up working out in their favor in the end though.

Now I’m glad I didn’t really read the synopsis so I didn’t know that something happens to his friend’s mom. That was a twist in the story that I wasn’t expecting and I liked being surprised by it. Pierce was probably one of my favorite characters, even though he was only in the story a handful of times. His mom was pretty funny too.

I loved how some of the pages had full-page comics on them and I especially liked the tons of illustrations throughout the book. This definitely added to the story and some of them were pretty funny. The author would explain a picture being taken or a scene that was happening and then there would be an illustration to go along with it. This worked out great during the chase scene at the concert.

Do I Recommend this Book/Series?

Yes! If you are fan of the comic strip Zits that is featured in most if not all then I would say definitely check it out.

My Rating:

*This book was proved by Edelweiss and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.