Mafalda [HC]

"When wider American audiences meet Mafalda, they’ll find a girl who resembles Nancy, but whose antics are entirely her own." —The New York Times Book Two of the celebrated comic finds Mafalda surfing waves, mediating between frenemies, and schooling teachers—for kids 8 and up, plus Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts lovers of all ages. As good a place as any to enter the madcap world of Mafalda and friends, Book Two of Mafalda finds the gang up to new antics. Mafalda heads off on a beach vacation, where she meets a curious stranger: Miguelito, a mop-headed philosopher who happens to live right down the street back at home. Susanita, Manolito, and Felipe, meanwhile, continue to tussle over all manner of issues, romp around the neighborhood, and execute physical feats of great proportions (with the help of a bicycle and a space helmet, Felipe inaugurates the Argentinean Space Program). Only this time, Quino brings everyone together in an alien environment: elementary school. Following the heels of a beloved Book One, Mafalda is back again with her precocious political incisiveness, gags, and hijinks. Mafalda notes the peculiar effects of consumerism and globalization, the ironies of sexism, and the injustices of poverty. Her clear-sighted antiwar beliefs will inspire a new generation of thinkers and activists. All the while readers (young and old) will fall in love with Quino's drawings which evoke the humor, irritation, ponderousness, and energy of childhood.