Book #2 The Odds: Run, Odds, Run
By Matt Stanton
Reviewed by Sarah Custance
Australian author/illustrator Matt Stanton has written over 30 books, spanning picture books to middle-grade fiction.
He is the author of the much-acclaimed Funny Kid series, the Fart Monster and Me series which was co-authored by Tim Miller, and 9 picture books including This is a Ball all written with his wife, bestselling author, Beck Stanton.
Run, Odds, Run is the second book in The Odds graphic novel series, with the third and final instalment due for release sometime 2022.
After deciding to take in all 10 of the Odds and have them live with Kip and her dad in their 2-bedroom apartment, it is becoming increasingly obvious that there are too many Odds and not enough space or noise control. When a serious Woman in a Suit shows up and starts to question Kip about the Odds and their strange existence in this world, Kip worries that she is from the government and is there to take the Odds away.
Without telling her dad about the Woman in the Suit the whole gang set out for a remote cabin in the woods where Kip hopes to drop off the woman’s radar. Which is easier said than done when the Odds aren’t getting along… Lance and Ninja-Nina are trying to out-hero each other, Booster wants to leave the group and start his own farm, Mr Pink is having trouble with hugging boundaries, and Unicorn is upset that the family cat doesn’t like her. With so much arguing will the Odds be able to successfully run away, or will the Woman in the Suit be harder to shake than Kip thought?
Considering how incredibly well received the first Odds book was, it’s no wonder Stanton has gone for a trilogy. While still giving readers the same silly, fun characters as the first book, like most middle novels, it does read more as the necessary but slower paced intermission before the final thrilling conclusion.
Young readers will still find many things to laugh over even though the overall theme of self-actualisation will probably be left unrealised by most readers. Run, Odds, Run, though slower than its predecessor, is still a great book to buy that any young reader will pore over again and again while waiting for the final book in the series and is a great introduction into the world of graphic novels.
