Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Annelie Geissler
Categories
Children’s, Teenage & Educational

CHUNKY

Yehudi Mercado

From writer and artist Yehudi Mercado comes a full-color graphic memoir about the author's lifelong struggle with his weight and overeating while growing up in a lower middle class Mexican-Jewish family in Houston in the 1980s.

Hudi is a chubby kid who is having a hard time dealing with his appetite and weight. His father, who never tried a sport he wasn't good at, thinks that if Hudi were to sign up for sports, he would make friends, gain self-confidence and go from chunky to hunky, like he did. As he tries out for various sports baseball, soccer, swim-team Hudi has to deal with Chunky, his imaginary friend who is the literal personification of his appetite. Hudi always feels a little awkward but Chunky isn't helping; at a birthday slumber party, for example, while Hudi aware that he's the only Mexican-American kid thereis trying to fit in, Chunky eats the entire cake. Will Hudi learn to deal with Chunky, whose size and appetite, only seem to grow and figure out what makes him happy? (Hint: Yes, he will.) Chunky is funny, real, and approaches a serious issue with a light touch. This is a book that is sure to delight young readers and make kids feel seen and heard. Yehudi Mercado is the author of Sci-Fu from Oni Press; the Texas Library Association Maverick Award-Winning Pantalones, TX; and the forthcoming narrative podcast Hero Hotel. He works in animation.

Available products
Book Published by Katherine Tegen Books

Comments

Mercado offers relatable insights into the life of a child who is eager to fit in but also coming into his sense of self, sometimes with the help of adults and sometimes in spite of them. A compelling coming-of-age memoir.

...Good-natured as they come and spurred on by his dad, Hudi submits to one sport after another. In baseball, he makes it to first...by getting hit with the ball. In soccer, he scores a goal...off a rebound from his face. He keeps at it, cheered on by his unusually honest imaginary friend, Chunky, a furry magenta mascot, until in football, when his father starts to wise up to his son's gentle spirit... CHUNKY is nevertheless as good-natured a romp as its highly appealing main character. The art evokes a light tone with simple, effective characteristics... A swift, funny tale that some readers may find a strong connection to.

Through his graphic memoir, Mercado explores his childhood growing up in a working class Mexican Jewish family while struggling with his weight and finding friendship with the imaginary mascot, Chunky, who encourages him to pursue his comedy dreams. Read more...

The digital artwork and sports scenarios play for laughs, and Hudi himself bears uncanny resemblance to his comedy hero Groucho Marx, but as details of Hudi's health problems steadily unreel, it's clear that getting in better shape is a serious matter. However, Mercado notes in closing remarks, "Being 'Chunky' isn't about being fat. Being Chunky is about feeling like you don't fit in." And that's a theme plenty of middle graders can relate to."